The Allspark Chronicles
by Starseeded
Summary: A/U It's true when they say your past can come back to bite you. Only this one's bite is larger than life! The history of the Allspark will be revealed. Not everyone is who they appear to be. Learning to Fly threequel. Rating may go up later.
1. Be Surprised at Nothing

**Disclaimer: **I don't own.

_This is the continuation of New Beginnings. This story will delve into Starscream and many other's past, and give light onto what really happened before Optimus came into the picture. _

_Hopefully this one is better than the rest! So, enjoy!_

_Thank you BS for your help in beta writing this! _

* * *

Starscream made his way from the corridor of his quarters near the rec room. He didn't even look into the room when he stopped by the threshold and listened to the others talking amid themselves.

No one noticed him standing there at first, but they all stopped talking, looking at each other curiously before they had even turned to see what had caused a strange sensation to run through them. It was as if his presence alone was invoking a foreshadowing that caused trepidation to run through the sparks and guts of all present.

Thundercracker and Skywarp both turned simultaneously, looking at him before any of the others had. As if they had heard him call to them.

Skywarp cringed at the feeling that overcame him and crept into his own spark, "Are you alright, Starscream?" he asked. Everyone else turned to look at Starscream after Skywarp had announced him being there.

"I am functional," Starscream replied evenly, his green optics glancing at everyone whose attention was now on him. He tilted and turned his head and headed for the main exit without another peep. Before he got outside, he suddenly heard a familiar voice call him, "Starscream, wait!"

"What is it, Thundercracker?" he didn't even look at him.

"Well, I uh," Thundercracker was at a sudden loss of words and he could not figure a reason why, "will flying help you?" He asked stupidly.

"Nothing but waiting will help me, Thundercracker,"

Well that had to be one of the more unusual things to come from Starscream's vocal processor, "Waiting? What are you waiting for?"

Starscream turned his head slightly to peer at his wing mate from the corner of his optic before his head righted itself and he leapt out the door, transformed and disappeared into the sky without a word.

"What was all that about?" Skywarp stepped up behind Thundercracker.

"I don't know," the bluish colored jet answered, "he's acting really bizarre,"

"You're telling me! He walked into the room and he was like giving off this vibe," Skywarp tapped his chin in thought, the soft clank heard in the silence of the main room, "as if the Unmaker himself had overcome him,"

"Maybe we should have Ratchet check him," Thundercracker peered toward the door where their wing mate left them.

"You ain't kiddin', TC. Something is really off beam with the twerp," Skywarp put his hands on his hips as he followed Thundercracker's line of sight.

-

Back in his office, Optimus stared at the data pad he had yet to even turn on. Too many things about his encounter with Starscream earlier had his mind reeling. What was the youngling going on about? Why was he acting so cryptic? Why did he leave this feeling with him when he left, like a forewarning he could not construe?

The sound of his door opening made him break away from his thoughts as he looked up, "Can I help you, Wheeljack?"

"Actually, yes, I was wondering if you have cleared Starscream as of yet?"

"No, Wheeljack, I'm sorry, something has come up," Optimus looked down again, his thoughts going back to the previous hours. Wheeljack could sense that something was wrong with his leader, "Is everything okay, sir?"

"Wheeljack," Optimus started to say something, and then he sighed, defeated. There was no way he could possibly put into words what had happened in Starscream's quarters, "Never mind," he didn't even look up.

"Very well, Optimus," Wheeljack frowned slightly with disappointment and headed for his own lab. He wanted to ask Starscream what those vibrations were that he was emanating, but figured it could wait.

-

In the sky, Starscream broke the sound barrier as he flew. Going over his memories, he couldn't believe he had actually died so many times. Remembering each death was such a painful thought, but in the end it showed him he had no reason to fear it. Hopefully it wouldn't go to his head.

He continued to file memories away as they flooded him, showing him everything he had apparently been forced to forget, including that tyrant Megatron. As he watched his memories, he was curious at himself as to why he stuck around him. After all, Megatron was never kind to him as far as he could remember.

Why did he follow him again? Why had he joined with the Decepticons in the first place? Maybe it was that promise of power, one he, at the time, truly believed belonged to him.

Not now, though. Now, he knew where power lied and knew he held a match in the wind of a hurricane in comparison to the powers out there.

That only brought him back to his questioning. Why had he followed Megatron, remaining practically by his side through all of that torture, even going so far as staying his Second in Command? Was it some kind of deep programming in his spark? Perhaps it was a better way to keep an optic on him, because he was the Lord High Protector of the Allspark and Cybertron. He spun barrel rolls in the clouds as his thoughts drifted, deciding to do a search into his memory for everything that had to do with Megatron. He figured to find his answers, he would have to root through them all and hopefully get a lead.

He didn't have much information on him. Only as much as he had seen him or been around him. He searched though all of his downloaded data, seeking anything that could help him. He did find out one thing, and it wasn't all that surprising. Megatron was old as dirt, _'That makes all of us,'_ he thought to himself as he flew on, hell, Megatron was older than Optimus himself was.

And come to think of it, Optimus was someone to look into also, but not right now.

He snorted, trudging deeper into his memory files as he searched for answers, leading back to before Optimus was Prime. Before Sentinel Prime. Each time, Starscream had been watching him or been by his side.

It was around that time that made his wing dip as he flew, watching the memories about the Lord High Protector. What he saw made him gasp, his engines sputtered.

'_No! This can't be!'_ he hissed and quickly he dipped sideways, his rudders pulling harshly as he turned himself around, making his way back to the base. He couldn't tell anyone any of what he had learned. He already knew they knew nothing of their very own past, so telling them would be moot.

With this new information, he needed to formulate a plan and he set himself a plot. It didn't make any sense to him as to how Megatron was who he was, and how he managed to escape, although it did answer some questions about his betrayal and possibly why he wanted the Allspark for himself.

There was no doubt in his mind that if things went the way he feared they could, then things would get very hairy, and knowing Murphy's Law, which wasn't unheard of in some form on Cybertron, it would.

"Primus, my Liege, where are you now?" He asked to no one in particular. He decided that he needed to get back to him. Perhaps some answers could come from Primus himself, given the Cybertronians hadn't destroyed him in their war.

Back at the base, the thunder of engines filled the air as Starscream landed hard on the ground. Everyone who saw him wondered what seemed to be so… off about him. One minute, he's like a walking reaper, the next, he's ignorant as he started past people, the look on his faceplates was more of frustration than anything.

He was on his way to his creator's office, he knew needed to talk to him immediately. He pushed past people without a thought as he nearly ran, knocking a few of them out of the way. The door opened on it's own accord, yet Optimus didn't have to worry about who had opened it. Starscream found Optimus deep in thought. The leader looked up solemnly, "Something wrong, Starscream?"

"I need to go back to Primus," Starscream suddenly muttered as he shut the door behind himself, making sure no one else heard.

Optimus hiked an optic ridge. That had to be one the strangest comments thus far, "What do you mean 'back to Primus'?"

"I keep forgetting about the way you all were taught," Starscream looked away as if thinking, then looked back, "Cybertron,"

"Cybertron? Why didn't you just say that?" Optimus asked, "Why would you need to go back to Cybertron?"

"Primus – Cybertron, Cybertron – Primus, it's all the same slag thing!" Starscream's personality seemed to take on a whole different person, as if he was suddenly the mech that was working for Megatron again, "I cannot grasp how… how much you all do not know!"

The Leader was curious as to Starscream's outburst, but didn't question it, feeling there had to be a reason behind it, "Then tell me," Optimus offered, "here and now, spill it all," his voice took on a demanding tone.

"None of you are ready for it," Starscream looked to the side in frustration, away from his creator's intense stare.

"You are hiding something Starscream," Optimus accused.

"So what if I am?" Starscream shot back, his green optics meeting his creator's, "It's not like there is anything any of _you_ could do about it! Hell, _I_ can't even do anything about it!"

"Maybe talking about it wi-"

"No," Starscream said simply, cutting Optimus off.

Optimus furrowed his optic ridges in slight anger and disappointment, "I am Prime, you don't have to hide it from me,"

"Don't flatter yourself, I'm hiding it from everyone."

"I see," Optimus said slowly with heightened suspicion at Starscream's attitude.

"I've decided that I'm going back to Pri – back to Cybertron," Starscream leaned on Optimus' desk with his hands, hanging over his creator, the look in his optics were serious to a fault.

"Maybe we all need to go back," Optimus suggested.

"What? Are you crazy? Listen to yourself! How do you plan to get back there? Walk? Good luck on that!" Starscream scoffed, his optics never left Optimus'.

"There's nothing left on Cybertron, Starscream, it's destroyed. Why go back? We don't even have the Allspark to bring it back to it's former glory,"

"That," Starscream's optics turned angry, "is where you are _wrong_,"

"…What?"

Starscream stood up and walked towards the door, but by the time he got to it, his demeanor suddenly took a summersault, which Made Optimus' optic twitch, "None of you know where the Allspark came from, and now there is a possibility to get it back," His voice even went back to it's cryptic tone.


	2. They Condemn What They Do Not Understand

**Disclaimer:** Don't own. Still. Won't ever.

**A/N:** _Here's a cheesy question... Hey, do me a flavor! Check out http://alltransformers(dot)ning(dot)com/ and join! There we can all chitchat about Transformers. Our likes and dislikes and share videos and photos and news!_

_The next installment of the story. A bit more is revealed and talks about leaving are underway. What will the humans think? Has Optimus really flipped his processor??_

* * *

"We can't go back to Cybertron, its dead, gone!" Wheeljack piped up, the first to argue the point, he folded his arms over his chest doubtfully, "Pardon the bluntness, but are you sure you haven't blown your processor, Prime?"

Optimus had been standing at the end of the lengthy table, leaning forward on it, "Wheeljack, I haven't blown anything," He answered with a sigh, "but know this… there is something far more… dare I say… dangerous. I do not want to risk this planet's safety."

"And how do you suppose we leave? It isn't possible to just up and fly away you know," Ironhide growled, "Besides, without the Allspark, all is lost, there's nothing to go back to."

"We will build a ship," Optimus ignored the Allspark statement.

"WHAT?!" The group all said in unison, "Optimus, do you have any idea how long that will take? That and the resources alone-" Perceptor piped up, realizing what it would take to build a ship of that magnitude.

"Wait, wait, hold up one second," Sideswipe interrupted with a raised a hand, leaning forward, "exactly _what_ is going on?"

Optimus looked down, "Something Starscream said has me quite disturbed,"

"Starscream? You mean Mr. Cryptic?" Sunstreaker scoffed, "If I didn't know any better, I would say he's flipped his processor. He barely speaks to anyone and if he does, he's downright odd."

"Watch your vocal processors, Sunstreaker," Optimus chided, "You weren't in the room with Ratchet, Wheeljack and I, and you have no idea what we saw,"

"Yeah, because you won't tell anyone," Sunstreaker glared at his leader. Optimus glared right back causing the yellow twin to suddenly cower from his impressive 'don't fuck with me' stare.

Sunstreaker was right, however. Optimus had been withholding information from the rest of them. It was a secrecy hidden by the three. The viewing itself was still so much a mystery, and Optimus wasn't positive how the others would take to such news.

"You're right, Sunstreaker, we have been withholding information," Optimus admitted, "But based on our findings-"

"What findings, Optimus? What is it about Starscream that makes him like Primus?" Sideswipe blurted out before he suddenly covered his mouth, realizing what he had said after he had said it.

Optimus didn't move for a long moment, his glare darkened. Before he could say anything, however, a new presence walked into the room, "Because Primus was my _first_ creator," he was swiftly followed by Thundercracker and Skywarp.

Cliffjumper stood and walked to the Seeker and pointed to his chest, "What? Have you lost your mind, Starscream? What makes you -" he stopped mid-sentence, "wait, _first_ creator?"

Starscream looked down at the offending finger, "You mind?" He asked, hiking an optic ridge.

Cliffjumper didn't move, feeling that he was in the right and that Starscream was being ridiculous. His optics grew furrowed as he glared at the seeker, "What makes you so slagging special, Starscream?" he poked Starscream's chest with each sentence, "You come in here and think you're one of Primus' first children? Who died and left you all mighty?"

Starscream simply slapped the finger away from him, giving Cliffjumper a warning glare, "As you well know I was re-sparked when Optimus used the Matrix of Leadership," Starscream's tone was more of a question to his statement.

Everyone nodded in hopes that Starscream would elaborate more on the subject.

"Well then, suffice it to say it's not the first occurrence of it," the Seeker's voice took on an almost bitter tone as if he had been insulted, his optics never leaving the small Minibot in front of him.

"Oh, so now you're really special. Not only did you get re-sparked, but you're a child of Primus," Sunstreaker grumbled from the other side of the table, "the plot thickens,"

Starscream moved to an empty seat, "You want to know what has been hidden from you all for so long? You want to know why not only this planet threatened but the mere existence of this universe is threatened."

No one said a word, only stared at the Seeker expectantly.

"I will tell you why. Because I am one of the Original 13,"

"Bullshit!" came a voice, recognized as Sunstreaker.

"That's absurd!" Bumblebee blurted.

"You're _NUTS_!" Ironhide.

Starscream scowled, "Am I?" he leaned forward slightly, pushing Cliffjumper from his way and looked to each and every one of the bots at the table with mocked ignorance, "And here you all believe that the Allspark was _found_ on Cybertron, also, so who is really nuts here?"

"So you're saying that what we know about the Original 13 is a farce?" Optimus asked, his own interest piqued.

"Very much so," Starscream admitted, "And since Optimus has brought up the idea of going back to Cybertron, there is very much the possibility that I may be able to awaken the others, maybe even here since we are on the subject."

"Others?"

"Uh… I did say there were 13, didn't I?" Starscream hiked an optic ridge.

"So smartass, how do you plan to do that?" Sideswipe mocked.

Starscream gave Sideswipe an indignant scowl, "I will call to them from here, therefore if they so choose, they can meet us here and then we will all go back to Cybertron to defend the universe… again,"

"Ok, enough with the 'defend the universe' gig," Sunstreaker grumbled as he put his hands up, "we already did that with Megatron, remember?"

"Oh, but that's the kicker," Starscream suddenly smirked as he put up a finger at the group before him, "I have a feeling we are not through with Megatron," his optics gave a strange glint as he spoke with a sardonic tone.

"WHAT?!" the walls practically vibrated, "News flash! Megatron is dead, or did you miss that headline?"

"He might be dead, yes, but I don't think we are done dealing with him," Starscream said with a snarky attitude.

"This is asinine." Ironhide grunted, "One doesn't just rise from the well of sparks, Starscream. What you're saying is impossible."

"Impossible?" He asked with a chuckle, surprised at Ironhide's audacity, "I am reborn from so many millennia, and you're telling me what's impossible? Perish the thought,"

"And how, pray tell, would you know this, Screamer?" Cliffjumper's condescending tone made the Seeker growl.

"Call it a hunch," he said aloofly with a shrug.

Forgetting on exactly how Megatron was going to be revived, Cliffjumper suddenly said, "Starscream, Megatron's spark was extinguished using the Allspark, there's no way he could come back."

"There is so much you do not understand," Starscream enunciated to the Minibot, "I am willing to bet that he will indeed return," The Seeker stood back from the table after having said his peace. He had other things to deal with right now, "now, I must go and try to sort this whole mess out," and he abruptly left.

"What was that all about?" Sideswipe suddenly turned to his leader, disconcertment strewn over his features.

"I assume we have as the humans say 'hit the proverbial hornet's nest with a stone'," Optimus stared at the spot which Starscream had been in not a few moments before. He knew he had to tell the others of what was seen on that screen, but he wasn't sure how. As if anyone would actually believe him. Come to think of it, he really hadn't seen a whole lot, so what was there to hide… really? Nonetheless, it was better to not speak of what they had seen until Starscream provided more answers.

In his quarters, Starscream went back to staring at the wall. Again his mind was sorting, filing and deleting, but it was also on another mission as well. He went through memories of contact after Primus had taken the shape of a planet. He wished he had been as gifted as the Keeper of Time and Space. That old fart would know what to do.

Along with all of his memories, powers that were long gone were being bestowed upon him from so long ago; he knew it would take time to become as strong as he once was, especially with the threat looming over his head. He just hoped he would be able to talk to some of the others before the shit hit the fan.

He sifted through his memories once again, searching for clues, for hints, for ways to contact the rest, given that they were still alive. Primus may have bestowed the same reincarnation ability on them all, and he hadn't seen any of them since they departed after their duty was fulfilled.

Given the different jobs by Primus, Starscream knew he could possibly find some back on Cybertron. They had been hidden away, possibly sleeping until the need for them arose again. Hopefully he wasn't the only one aware of the strong possibility that they would be needed again.

* * *

_Please review! I love reviews! If you flame, I'll sic Starscream on you!  
_

_Next chapter: Plans are in action. More story is revealed!_


	3. Aware of What Will Be

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Transformers or anything associated, do you _really_ think I would be sitting here writing fanfic about it? Yeah... I didn't think so either...

_Another chapter of the mysterious Starscream._

* * *

As Starscream stared at the wall, he went over recent events from when he had stood up from the memory extraction until now. He hadn't realized so much had happened so quickly. Why now?

That wall was becoming his new best friend, it seemed. He was spending more time in his quarters staring at this wall than doing much else as of late. He sighed and continued to stare blankly.

Change was coming. He could feel it in his spark and that he himself was also changing. He went through memories of when he served under Megatron. He wasn't becoming like that, no, he was becoming someone else.

His memories went further back until they breached the once sealed memories. He was becoming the Ancient he was back then. He couldn't remember how he was then, but somehow he felt he was becoming that mech again.

For a sharp moment his spark raced and his mind reeled. His optics offlined. This was something new. As darkness shrouded him, he felt as if this was a part of his purpose. The darkness gave way to empty space at first. Then in a rush a galaxy became larger and larger until he was engulfed by the bright stars and nebulas that made it what it was.

_-_

_In the depths of space unknown, evil was beginning to stir. _

_There was an all too familiar feeling that had been buried and hidden deep within his memories made Starscream start to shudder. He wasn't sure what the shudder was for, since he did not feel afraid, nor threatened, but something about what was happening caused it. _

_He watched as a supernova had collapsed in on itself too close to a second black hole that caused an explosion and ripped space. Although the blast was most beautiful, putting forth colors that wouldn't normally be able to be seen by any human eye, something else caught his attention. He hadn't noticed the tear until the supernova started to disperse, but it was there. His vision focused on the rip until it was the only thing in his view. The tear shined a bright yellow and white, showing a gap where it should have been closed for eternity. There was no mistaking what he was seeing._

_In his mind, he watched the tear in space and time and felt what was behind it. Everything went dark and in that instant, bright orbs came to life and bore deep into his mind and spark. _

_He knew those shining green orbs. He cringed deeply._

_His worst fear was coming to surface as he watched the rift with interest. He had hoped deep down in those buried memories that this wouldn't ever happen, but being space was as big as it was, it was bound to somewhere. It was just a matter of how long. _

_His visions focused on the being on the other side, which was much larger than the rift itself. The shining orbs that peeked out seemed to know he was there and it knew he saw it. _

_There was a loud metallic and feral growl. The growl escaladed until it became a full blown scream. The scream was furious._

_The dark entity glared out of the hole, searching for a way out, realizing this might be its only way out. It would be a long while before it would succeed in getting through, but not before sending out a proto-form. One it knew that could get to the other side. The proto-form sailed out of the rift and headed into deep space. _

"_Find him," its creator's voice ordered. It didn't need to be told who it needed to find, because it already knew._

_Starscream never saw the proto-form that was expelled from the rift. Remote viewing could be a bitch sometimes._

-

"Enter," Starscream's visions were cut off by the beep at the door. His optics slowly went to the offending sound as he spoke, irritation laced in his voice. Not from being disturbed, but from what he saw.

"Starscream, do you realize that the entire base thinks you've gone insane?" Optimus stepped through the threshold and glared at the Seeker. He had considered what went on in the main room at the table. Sure enough, everyone had decided that Starscream was absolutely flipped.

"Something big happened in a far away galaxy," Starscream said with that strange cryptic tone, "There's been a tear in space and evil lurks just behind that rift," He lifted his head slightly to look Optimus straight in the optics.

Optimus folded his arms over his chest, "Perhaps you need to tell me about it," he tried again. It was probably a lost cause, as Starscream was keeping tight lipped about it all.

"He's gonna get free and he will come, and there's nothing I can do without the others – without Primus," Starscream threw up his hands with a scoff, "You saw what was in my memories, you should also know,"

"Who, Starscream?"

"Unicron," Starscream looked away quickly. His voice alone spoke such loathe that it made Optimus take a step back.

"I remember you mentioning that name before," Optimus said in a disturbing, yet curious tone, "and while we are on the subject of strange occurrences, perhaps then, you might be able to tell me why you mentioned Megatron?"

Starscream's optics narrowed on the leader as if deciding whether he wanted to divulge that information to him. He knew that everyone would be in real danger should he also be correct about Megatron. How was he supposed to tell Optimus about Megatron? As far as Optimus knew, he was the Lord High Protector of the Allspark and of Cybertron itself, and for some reason he went nuts, took out the femmes and sparklings on a rampage to stop the Autobots in their tracks. Now, Starscream had stumbled upon something very alarming and wasn't quite sure how his creator would take it, "Because Megatron is still a very real danger," was all he said.

"At the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean?" Optimus hiked an optic ridge in question.

"Did you ever wonder why he turned out the way he did? Why he betrayed Cybertron? Why he tried to steal the Allspark for himself?"

"I've wondered about that since the breem it happened, but it doesn't tell me why you say he is currently a threat,"

Starscream ignored the comment, his optics going to the floor, "No…" Starscream said with inflection, his optics looking to the right, then back to Optimus, "not currently, but he will be, I'll bet my spark on it,"

Optimus let out something akin to a sigh, "Perhaps we should do another memory extraction. The more we know, the more we can be prepared,"

"There is no way in the Pit any of you will be prepared for what could possibly be coming," Starscream's optics flashed dangerously.

"And what is that?"

Starscream leaned back on the wall staring at his creator for a long moment. He again debated on telling him everything, "I'll tell you when I know more,"

"Well then, maybe you can tell me why you said I was wrong about the Allspark?"

This time it was Starscream's turn to hike a ridge, but it was more out of surprise than curiosity, "Because you were,"

"Explain?"

The Seeker looked away, showing Optimus he had no intention of answering, instead, he said something else, completely off the wall, which left an expressionless look on Optimus' face, "I believe that there are hidden ancient sparks amongst the living and I need to find out which ones and guide them because I will need their help,"

"I don't understand,"

"History may very well be repeating itself."

"What part of history?"

"The part all of you are so ignorant about. The part that I lived, the part that Primus lived," The Seeker's shoulders seemed to sag, "The battle of so long ago. The battle for all of us,"

"What battle?"

"The battle that you saw on that stupid machine. Tell me you didn't think it was just some odd gathering,"

"Like I said, it showed no battle, only ancients."

"You'd just better hope that there is enough Rarified Energon left on Cybertron to help Primus,"

"Rarified Energon?"

"Ah, another thing hidden from all of you, I see," Starscream snorted, "figures,"

"What is Rarified Energon?"

"But I suppose all of the Rarified Energon in the universe couldn't help Primus if we can't get to Vector Sigma,"

"Answer my question,"

Starscream glared at his creator, "I will tell you when I have more answers," his voice enunciated his refusal with a darker undertone that did not pass by the Autobot leader.

Optimus' optics narrowed with confusion and frustration. What was the youngling going on about now? Again he mentioned this 'Unicron'. He also mentioned about – what was it again? – _Rarified_ Energon? What in the Allspark was that? What was Vector Sigma?

The door beeped once again, Starscream's optics left his creator's and he looked to the door, "Perceptor is here, perhaps with some news on the ship?"

Optimus was about to ask when the door opened, "Ah, Optimus, the Secretary of Defense wishes a meeting with you about the items we will need to build the ship. He said he thinks the government can help with supplies," Perceptor's voice rang out.

Optimus had turned to hear his scientist out, and then turned to Starscream who had a smug look to him. The Seeker folded his arms as he glanced at the disbelief in his creator's face.

* * *

_What...? A psychic Starscream? Funky, no?  
_

_Next chapter: Starscream gets... curious._


	4. In Dreams There is Truth

**Discl** - ... you know what? Why? lol

_Quick update and longer too, will prolly get longer still :P_

* * *

_He couldn't quite tell where he was. There was a table or perhaps what looked like a bar far off to the left. There seemed to be smaller tables dotted about also in a big mess as if it had been recently visited and everyone suddenly fled. The room was barely lit, telling him even less of where exactly he was._

"_Get out!" Screamed a voice. The demand was disorienting. He had no idea what he had done, "I said leave! You're not welcome here!" Green optics appeared from near the supposed bar, a loud slam causing him to startle._

_He backed away, affronted by the outburst, "I told you before, you're nothing but a nuisance!" the voice came again._

He awoke abruptly from recharge, confused and hurt. He hadn't known the voice or the mech who had yelled at him. The dream itself was strange enough, since the one who yelled at him had green optics. He knew one other who had optics like that.

-

The Secretary of Defense was already standing outside of the building he had asked Optimus to meet him at. He stared out across the small piece of land, watching for the Autobots to arrive so things could get underway about the ship they were speaking of.

Two members of the Secret Service had been sent with him. They had very little knowledge about the Autobots. All they knew was their directive which was to protect the Secretary of Defense from any threat. Little had they known there was no threat to be had, but it was apparent standard orders nowadays.

"Ah, there they are now," Terry had seen the Autobots coming, squinting into the sunlight that offended his eyes. Since his first encounter with Optimus over the phone about the F-22 that had been shot down from space, he had met with him a few times, and each time Optimus seemed rather uneasy around him, but gave no rhyme or reason as to why. This made their relationship rocky at best, and neither of them spoke unless either absolutely had to. Optimus preferred to use the liaisons as much as he could, since speaking to the man only angered him.

Optimus stopped in front of the Secretary, while Ratchet and Ironhide took each side of him. The Secretary gave a weak smile, since these big 'Bots intimidated him very much, especially the leader. He hadn't met all of the Autobots yet, and any of the ex-Decepticons he had never met…

An F-22 flew overhead and turned in the air, followed by two other jets, both off color from the actual colors they should be, one giving off a blue hue, the other dark in comparison with purple on it's tail fins and wings. The men watched the iron birds confusion in all of their faces from their colors.

"Secretary, there was no mention of military aircraft, are you sure everything is alright?" asked one of the SS men nervously, watching the jets bank after their flyover.

The secretary turned and looked, giving him an unsure smile, and then looked back to Optimus, "I'm glad to have this meeting with you, Optimus Prime,"

"My scientist has informed me that you might be able to help with the building of the ship?" Straight to the point, very much like a leader should be. The sooner he could get this out, the sooner he could leave.

"That is correct," He said, raising his voice as the jets flew by again. He gave a sharp glare at the jets, and then looked back to the Autobot leader, "I am to assume they are with you?"

"Your assumptions are correct, Secretary,"

"Do you think it would be too much trouble to ask them to stop flying around like that? It makes speaking a little hard over their engines,"

Optimus sent a databurst to the three Seekers and the Seekers came close, slowing before they all transformed before hitting the ground, their springy legs breaking their hard landing as they gained quick balance.

The two Secret Service men suddenly pulled out their weapons and pointed at the jets, "What in God's name?" One whispered.

"Surely, the weapons are not necessary," Optimus chided, "They are with me,"

The three Seekers approached slowly, almost mock stalking them, making the two Secret Service men step backwards, Starscream stopped first, but the other two were enjoying this far too much, "That's enough you two,"

"How come I have never met these ones?" The Secretary's eyes went to the green optics of the silver Seeker, then to the leader again.

"Was there reason?" Optimus asked.

"Well we do like to keep a profile of every Autobot so that we don't make anymore… mistakes,"

At that, the three Autobots transformed, standing at their full height. Optimus' optics fell on the Secretary, "Yes, don't want those," His optics went to Starscream, then back to the Secretary. In a elegant move, he knelt down to look the Secretary in the eye, "So how can you help us, Secretary?"

"We can supply all you may need; there is a plant not far from your base, in fact. I had heard the ship will need to be large enough to… accommodate you all, and there is plenty of metal of your choosing. All you need to do is send a request and it will be brought to you. I am assuming that we will not need to fabricate anything?"

"No, we will do all of the fabrication,"

"How long will this take?"

"It hadn't been decided. The schematics have only been started, but a rough estimate is around 3 to 4 weeks."

"How much fuel are we speaking here?"

"Since we use different fuel, or a more condensed version of your fuel, it will be a fraction of what your shuttles required for proper liftoff back when we first got here."

Starscream looked down at the human. He no longer harbored anger for the creature. If anything, he pitied him and the look on his face showed nothing more. The Secretary caught the glance and nodded towards him, "Why are his optics green? I was told the Autobots' optics were blue,"

"He is Starscream," It was apparently the only thing he would tell him. Optimus stood up just as graceful as he had knelt, watching the humans reaction go from curious to horror as the revelation as to who Starscream was. So _he_ was Optimus' offspring. Turning from the green optics that regarded him so lowly, he glanced towards the other two Seekers, "And those two? I thought the Decepticons had red optics?"

"That's because we are defected Decepticons," Skywarp supplied without a second thought.

Instantly the man panicked. He was told there were none at all, "What is this!? I was told that there weren't any after that incident with the Black and White one!"

"His name is Barricade," Skywarp said brusquely.

"It was a need to know basis, and you…" Starscream leaned forward with a dangerous smirk, he extended a clawed finger towards the man and harmlessly poked him, "didn't need to know,"

"The hell I didn't! You fuckers lied to us?!"

"We never lied, you only assumed." Optimus said with a matter of fact intonation, "apparently your assumptions were wrong,"

What was it about humans and their constant assumptions of things, anyway?

"This is a break of treaty, Optimus!" The two men behind the secretary pulled out their guns and aimed it towards the Cybertronians. Even though they felt they had a snowball's chance in hell at getting out of there alive, they had heard the tone of the Secretary and that was enough for them,"

"Oh _please_," Skywarp growled, "I hope you are well aware that _those_ things won't hurt us,"

"I'm happy you're all leaving, in fact, the sooner the better!" The Secretary scoffed.

"Shut your trap," Thundercracker suddenly snarled, leaning down in the man's face, causing him to go pale, "consider it even for shooting our sparkling," his optics flashed dangerously, even though he probably would not have hurt the man, it was nice to get back at him for his insanely stupid mishap.

The man noticed that Starscream hadn't moved from his position and neither had anyone else, "TC, enough," he warned, and Thundercracker leaned back and stood erect, still glaring at the human.

Apparently the silver one had some superiority over the other two jets. Probably had something to do with Optimus' rank.

"Be happy we are leaving this planet, Secretary," Starscream murmured, his tone changing as he leapt with grace into the air and transformed, bursting out of there with his wing mates.

Optimus gave one final look to the Secretary, "Whatever it is you think you believe, we have never lied to you," He said curtly, "if anything, we were protecting them from you because we knew what would happen," he nodded to the trine in the air – more specifically, Starscream, "case and point."

"Point made," The Secretary glared. He realized in his haste that he was in the wrong. They never had asked. They did assume, and anyone with a brain knows where assuming gets you, "good day, Optimus," he nodded, stalking of with what dignity he had left. He heard the transforming of the 'Bots before they had left without another word, "Get them what they want," He glanced back at the Autobots driving away, walking to the SUV and got in without another word.

-

When they had returned to base, Starscream headed for his quarters immediately, but something had told him to stop. But why? He turned his head and glanced at the machine that was staring right back at him. It was the very one that was used to unlock his memories and he gave the machine a glare and then he continued on.

When he entered his room, he instantly went to thinking mode, which wasn't so unusual for him as of recently. He was wondering about the other 12 Ancients.

Something pulled him from his thoughts as his HUD blacked out then returned, doing it a few more times until ancient symbols took up the place the previous Cybertronian symbols were. He took a moment to study them realizing in a short moment that he could clearly read them.

It was the Ancient symbols from the Allspark and the days of the biggest battle that never happened. He smiled outwardly. So far, 2 gifts had been restored and he wondered how long the others would take.

He reclined himself back on his berth, preparing to get comfortable for the long hours of situating and looking for solutions.

Going back to his thoughts, he furrowed an optic ridge in question when one came over them all. He considered all possibilities as he wondered how to find the other 12 Ancients. Perhaps, if some of the Ancients had been reborn like he was, then he might be able to start finding them now. That only bode one hard question… where was he to start looking… and how? Apparently he had no way to sense where they were. If that had been the case, he wouldn't be asking himself this question. So how exactly was he going to find them?

He traced his thoughts back to when he had stopped to look in Ratchet's med bay as if something was drawing him to it. It had opened his mind, so perhaps it could open the others' minds as well if there were some hidden Ancients around them. There was also the plus side to this. At time same time, it would show Optimus answers he was searching for through others' optics. Even though he knew deep down somewhere that not all of the Ancients were reborn, he knew somehow that some were. And where better to start his search than here on Earth. And the perfect tool was sitting in Ratchet's medical bay.

On that same note, he started to wonder who could possibly be 'in hiding'. He figured that their personalities might match, but disregarded the idea when he thought of himself, especially when he was under Megatron's rule.

And come to think of it, while was willing to let these unusual thoughts flow, why didn't others question his reborn name? He'd died so many times, you'd think one would get suspicious, but no. Nothing came up as far as he could remember. Some things just didn't add up. No one who might be an ancient had any of their names, apparently. But then again, he didn't remember all of their names, so perhaps…

Starscream's thoughts were interrupted by a most unexpected visitor. He hadn't even seen them to know who they were, and the door buzzer hadn't even been pressed before the door opened revealing to him the questionable mech. He rose up to a slight sitting position resting on his arms and tilted his head, "Yes?"

"Hey, Starscream," The yellow mech replied as he watched the door with confusion, wondering how the hell it had opened before he had touched anything, "heard the meeting went alright with Optimus,"

"You could say that," he sat up straighter to look into the 'Bot's optics was determination, "but something tells me that's not why you are here,"

The yellow mech gave a curt yet nervous nod, looking away a few times before looking back at the Seeker, "I had a really strange dream,"

For some reason this totally caught the Seeker off guard, "But…" he puckered an optic ridge, "don't you usually go to your brother about these?" of either of the idiosyncratic brothers, Sunstreaker was the last one he'd expect to come to him. In fact, it was downright strange. Especially after boasting how fanatical he had claimed the Seeker to be.

"I would, believe me," Sunstreaker gave another nervous nod, "but I thought you might be able to interpret it for me before I… go to him about it,"

"You called me nuts a few days ago and now you're telling me you want my help?" Starscream hid a smirk. He couldn't help but mess with the twin for now coming back to him after his words, "dig the irony in that," he mused almost unable to hide his grin.

Offended, Sunstreaker snorted, "If you don't want to, I can leave,"

"That isn't what I said, 'Streaker,"

"Don't call me that," Sunstreaker snapped angrily at the nickname.

"You call me 'Screamer," Starscream sniggered with a small shrug, "I figured I could return the favor," Starscream's optics looked away, then back at the yellow Warrior. His comment held little emotion.

He nodded towards the wall, indicating he wanted Sunstreaker to stay, "Now, enlighten me about… this dream, hmm?"

Sunstreaker provided the full dream to Starscream, telling him every detail he could remember. Starscream was silent at the mention of the green optics. In fact, he was blatantly stunned.

Sunstreaker gave a curious look to the Seeker, "So you think I am nuts?"

Starscream, who was going over in his mind about what Sunstreaker had admitted to was brought out of his thoughts, "No..." he drawled out slowly in a near whisper, coming to a powerful revelation, "not at all," he answered emotionlessly before leaping from his perch and running out the door, leaving Sunstreaker staring after the Seeker even more confused.

Perhaps he knew where to start now. He needed Ratchet.


	5. Not For You, Not For Me, But For Us

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Yeah... I wish.

_Ok, I know the chapters are moving along well, and I guess that's ok if you're looking for frequent updates, but it might slow down, who knows? _

_Is anyone confused yet? *Devilish smirk* And we ain't hit the tip of the iceberg yet, Hah!_

_Any ways, thank you all my lovely reviewers and a special thank you to blood shifter for help me in binds and with ideas!_

* * *

Starscream ran until he reached Ratchet's medical bay. He used the door jam to stop his sliding as the door opened and he looked in. Fancy that. Ratchet wasn't in there. He looked down both corridors, hoping to see him, but did not, so he did the only think he could think of. A burst of air flew from his vents equal to a sigh and he headed towards the main room, walking past the group who were all standing around, talking.

"So, 'Bee, is it true?" Sam tilted his head slightly as he looked up at the small yellow 'Bot nervously, "It's true you guys are leaving?" He turned his head slightly to see the Seeker disappear down a different corridor.

'Bee only nodded, "Yeah, we have to."

"Why?" Bee hesitated. He saw the tears welling up in both Sam and Mikaela's eyes, "it's complicated, and to tell you the truth, I don't really know for sure," He spoke thoughtfully.

"Whoa, whoa, wait, let me get this straight," Sam's voice held a tone of anger, "you're all leaving and you don't even know _why_?" His hands went out in a term of frustration, "Have you all blown your circuits?!" he finally dropped them to his sides, defeated. Sam looked away, unable to bear looking into his best friend's blue optics and frowned.

"Sam," Optimus suddenly said, "Sam, if we had any other choice, I would have us stay," A solemn tone laced his voice, "it isn't a choice I made lightly,"

"So _you_ chose to leave?" Sam asked. Of course, to the 'Bots he was being irrational, yet he didn't know the entire story, "You chose to leave even if you don't know why? Pointless,"

Optimus nodded to the man, "Not pointless, Sam," he let out a sound like a sigh, "it was something that Starscream told me. If we do not leave, this planet is in danger,"

"You know," Sam almost growled, "I am not around here that much anymore, granted, and I can even tell there is something up with that oddball Seeker," he scoffed, "besides, this planet was in danger before and you guys kept it fine then,"

"You are right," Sunstreaker walked out of the passageway, looking down at the humans. Sam turned to the new voice.

After all the time he had spent around them, it was hurting even him to leave, "Sam," he started, kneeling down to the small human, "he _is_ different, but you can't hold that against him,"

"You sure do,"

"That's different,"

"How?"

Sunstreaker huffed, "The point is, just because he is a little strange, you can't say that he is wrong. None of us can," Sam put a hand out and circled it in front of him. Sunstreaker jerked his head back in confusion. Sam nearly chuckled. Even after all this time, they still had so much to learn, "It means to tell me more, enlighten, explain,"

"Ah," Sunstreaker nodded, "Perhaps Optimus can tell you, or maybe… Screamer can himself," He looked to his leader with beseeching optics. No matter how strange things seemed, the humans had the right to know.

"Sam, Starscream…" he looked up, trying to find a way to explain, "There are many aspects of this even we do not understand, so it is very difficult to tell you,"

Sam snorted angrily. How could his friends – family even – leave him like this? There had to be another way, there had to, so he tried a different approach, "Well then, why can't we just go with you?"

"Sam I -" Optimus stopped, startled by the sudden question, "I don't think that is a good idea. Just like here, Cybertron will be in as much, if not more danger; I can't willingly put you in danger like that,"

"Besides, we are not sure that there is breathable oxygen on Cybertron," Bee cut in, trying to sound helpful, "and if there was, it would kill you nonetheless from all of the toxins in the what little atmosphere we have left,"

Optimus suddenly looked up when he heard Starscream and Ratchet approach. He watched as the two spoke and got quiet as they got closer… and especially when they cut their speech suddenly, more with the realization that they were no longer alone.

Ratchet gave Optimus a quick apprehensive glance and looked away. Busted.

Starscream's optics went to his creator's and he looked at the humans as if he knew what was going on. Instead of saying anything, Ratchet tore him away, "Let's go, you need to make sure this will actually work and that you're absolutely right," Ratchet pushed the Seeker roughly, seeming not all that pleased with whatever Starscream had said to him. The Seeker didn't object as he gave one more saddened glance to the humans.

"Ratchet, wait!" Sam suddenly called out, halting both Medic and Seeker abruptly, "What is it Sam?"

"Starscream," he pointed accusingly at the Seeker, "_you_ know what is going on, what exactly is going on. Why don't _you_ tell us why you're leaving? Why can't _you_ explain what this is all about?"

Starscream gave Sam a pained look, "All will be revealed before long, I promise,"

"Wrong answer, Screamer!" Sam yelled, having also gotten tired of the Seeker's cryptic and vague answers, feeling much like he was being run in circles, "I want to know. I want to know why you think you need to leave us. I want to know _what the fuck_ gives you this entire all mighty claim over the Autobots!" His voice was more of a growl as he spoke with a grimace, tears falling down his reddened cheeks.

"Sam," Starscream let something out like a sigh as he pulled from Ratchet's shocked grasp, "if it was that simple, I would."

"It can't be that hard to grasp," Sam argued, "stop beating around the bush and spill it!"

"You have no idea," he looked away slowly, saddened by this human's persistence and sorrow and knowing there was nothing he could say to quell the man's strong emotions flooding him.

"Come on, 'Screamer," Sam threw out his arms in desperation, "I live in a world where giant alien robots came to my planet. Back when everything I ever thought I knew went backwards and inside out you idiot!" Starscream cringed, he could see the man was caving, "I was here for your death and when you were born again. Come on, how can something get more complicated than that?"

Ok, that was new. Starscream glanced at Optimus, who was looking at Sam with surprise and looked at Starscream and shook his head. He knew Sam knew about his rebirth, but to his knowledge the man never knew that he remembered everything again. He passed it off as something to worry about later.

"Sam, I'm sorry. As Optimus said, if we remain here, your world is in grave danger of being destroyed,"

"Of w-what, huh?" Sam scoffed angrily, "Decepticons? Come on Starscream, you should know me better than that," He hissed, eyeing the Seeker, "I think we can deal with whatever comes at us,"

"No, not of Decepticons," He thought for a few short seconds the size divergence in Unicron and Earth. Yeah, it was nothing more than a snack… a very small snack.

The man folded his arms over his chest defiantly, "Then_ please_ explain this to me,"

"I – I can't." the Seeker lowered his head in shame. His fist came down near the man lighter than he had wanted it to. He seemed also frustrated by the idea of not being able to admit what was going on.

The feeling of utmost betrayal hit Sam hard, "You know what? Fuck you, Screamer!" Sam suddenly yelled, his echo clearly heard throughout the base. Within the suddenly eerily quiet base, he turned violently on Bumblebee, "And you… I never -" he stopped, new tears coming from his eyes, "least of all you!" he stated irately.

His anger then turned on Sunstreaker, "Fucking twins. Double the trouble? No double the fucking pain!"

Sam's eyes went next to Ratchet, "And you call yourself a medic," He growled.

"And you," His voice almost taking a condescending tone before he had even looked, "You call yourself a leader? Leading your troops blindly? I don't know what happened to the Optimus I once knew who would stake out every other option before finalizing so quickly. You disgust me!"

Sam turned to Mikaela and took her arm lightly, "We are leaving,"

At this Bumblebee's head sank to his chest. He wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but protocol was protocol. He knew Sam's words weren't spoken in true hate, so he could forgive him, no matter what. Everyone else was just shocked into silence at the small human's outburst.

"But Sam," Mikaela suddenly protested, pulling back, "Sam we can't just leave. You wanted to know you can't be this angry at – _hate_ them –for wanting to save the planet _again_."

"My ass I can't," Sam glared at her and then glared at the mechs standing around, but said nothing else, he tugged her again and she went with him, giving a sorrowful glance back at the bots… Obviously this was one war they would not win.

"Fuck you all, you infernal machines!" Sam finally yelled as he disappeared around the corner, his hand flying up over his head and backwards as he stuck his middle finger to the base, unseen tears still running down his cheeks.

"Well that went worse than expected," Sunstreaker almost shrugged.

"Shut your trap, Streaker," Starscream chided with a thump to his helm, "That was a very big blow. I can't tell everything, none of us can tell anything to them."

"Stop. Calling. Me. That." The yellow twin growled deeply, and his growl dissipated just as quickly, "I know it was hard for them to accept." Sunstreaker sighed with defeat and moved to stand, making his way past Optimus and Bumblebee towards the rec room for some relaxation.

Ratchet had been hurt by the man's outburst, but he did not comment. It wasn't something he did. He glanced at the sorrowful Optimus and 'Bee, then back to Starscream, deciding to loosen the tension, he spoke, "Well, might as well ask Optimus now that you're here,"

Optimus looked up. At first his expression bore a sadness Even Bee hadn't seen in many years. His look then turned to curious, wondering what the two were conspiring, "Ask me what?"

Starscream shot Ratchet a dark glare but looked back towards Optimus, "Do you think you and Wheeljack have a moment that we can all speak?"

Just the name of the ones requested made Optimus cringe. Why was Starscream asking for those ones in a fastidious way?

"I will comm. Wheeljack, where will he join us?"

"My med bay, Optimus," Ratchet answered as he reached out and tugged at Starscream who complied and followed.

"Oh, and can you get Sunstreaker also?" Starscream looked over his shoulder as he was pulled.

Optimus raised an optic ridge at _that_ particular request.

-

About 5 minutes later, all who were requested were now in the med bay with the doors tightly sealed and locked so no one else could enter or hear. Optimus looked at Starscream expectantly, "So why have you asked us here?"

Starscream seemed a bit uneasy, but in his mind, he knew he was doing the right thing and allowed that to guide him, "Well, you remember being here during the extraction," Starscream asked, everyone but Sunstreaker nodded, who was looking nervously about.

"I have the distinct feeling that some of the 'others' may have been reborn sparks as well, perhaps taking different names to conceal them. They wouldn't know who they are unless an extraction is done and the firewalls are broken," Everyone but Sunstreaker gave a surprised look at the Seeker's idea; in fact he gave a confused look.

"Hey, listen, I don't know precisely what is going on here, but what does this have to do with me?" Sunny asked looking to everyone, pointedly Starscream, "Did Sideswipe mess something up?"

Sunstreaker was intentionally ignored for now while he ranted.

"Starscream, are you suggesting…?" Ratchet asked, not even finishing his words before Starscream nodded.

This time Wheeljack seemed to be the voice of logic in this situation, his voice was even as he concluded out loud what he was thinking, "You want to perform extractions to find them… don't you?"

A momentary look and another nod.

"What's an extraction?" Sunstreaker asked.

Still ignoring the curious 'Bot, "And you want to perform one on… _him_?" Wheeljack's voice sounded anxious as he thumbed towards Sunny, "You can't be _serious!_"

Nod.

By Primus, he was!

Ratchet, Wheeljack and Optimus stared at Starscream, who only shrugged. He couldn't help who was who. Well, wasn't this just peachy…

Ratchet turned to Sunstreaker. Might as well tell him, since the cat was already out of the bag, per se, "Sunstreaker, you know about the extractions performed on Starscream, correct?"

"Uh… no?" it sounded more like a guess than an actual answer. He knew a little, everyone did, but it was nothing more than a couple of things, barring the rest that was on a certain need-to-know.

A growl from the medic, "Alright, to make a long story short, hold out your data transfer and I will show you everything," Ratchet demanded. Not wanting to meet with The Hatchet's wrath, the mech did as asked. Ratchet hooked his own line and connected the twin, flooding him with everything at once.

Sunstreaker nearly fell over in shock, ripping the data ports apart, causing Ratchet to yank his arm back and hiss as he held his now pained wrist. He stumbled and caught himself, "No… _no!_" He cried, his voice bordering on hysteria, "you - you can't possibly tell me that what he's been saying is all… true!"

No one answered, which was all he needed, "Now, with your permission, I would like to perform one on you," Ratchet said to the twin.

After Sunstreaker regained his composure, he gave a puzzled and suspicious glance at everyone full with narrowed optics, "Why?" he asked, drawing out the word for a couple of seconds in skepticism.

"Because your dream, 'Streaker-"

"Stop calling me that," the twin said on impulse, cutting the Seeker off.

Starscream's optics furrowed, not liking being interrupted, "Then stop calling me Screamer – your dream had specifics in it. I would like to find out if you knew of one or…" Really, he didn't want to finish that statement.

Sunstreaker already knew what he was failing to say and pointed to himself, his mouth agape, "_Me?_ You think _I_ might be one of those Ancient guys?"

The Seeker didn't even dignify that with an answer, only gave a short if it could be called that, nod.

"What about Sideswipe? He will know I am offline and if he doesn't find out why, he will go crazy!"

"Well, the way you say the story, Sunstreaker, he may have something to do with this too," Starscream supplied hesitantly. He remembered a mech who wasn't fond of twins. The mech believed them to be nothing but bad luck. Why he had come to this conclusion, Starscream would probably never know.

"Should I have him come in, then?" Sunstreaker asked, looking to everyone. Optimus gave a nod.

"_-Hey bro, you need to come to the med bay, quick!-"_

"_-Wha? What for? Man, you made me lose my game, goober!-"_

"_-What?-" Sunstreaker_ was caught completely off guard,_ -Di – did you just call me… a – a goober?-" _he asked, flabbergasted.

"_-You ruined my game,-" _Sideswipe pouted.

Sunstreaker facepalmed in the bay and shook his head with an indignant sigh making all there give him a curious look.

Why him? Why of all the mechs in the world, was _he_ stuck with Sideswipe again? "_-Never mind that now, we have more important things to talk about. You are not gonna believe the shit I am hearing in here! It blew my processor away!-"_

"_-Ha! Kinda hard to blow away what isn't there isn't it…?-" _Sideswipe asked archly.

A pregnant silence answered him,_ "-Ha, burn!-"_

"_-Just get in here-" _Sideswipe cringed at the growled command. He know that no nonsense voice, "_-I was so close to winning too,-" _was his last remark before he got up, intent for the medical bay.

"_-Aww.-" _Sunstreaker retorted coldly, "-_Burn.-"_

_-_

Sideswipe was in the bay a few moments later. Unlocking doors opened. Ratchet's optics went to the door, curious how they had opened without him unlocking them first. He stole a glance at Starscream, suspecting him to be the culprit, but there were more important things to deal with than the instant-door-open-technique.

Ratchet went to Sideswipe, gave him a little information, then looked at his wrist before giving Sunstreaker a pointedly evil glare, "Wheeljack, would you mind?" He asked, his optics never leaving the yellow twin.

Wheeljack nodded and the next to nearly fall was Sideswipe. It didn't take long for him to come to the same conclusion that his brother had made, "Me first!" he chimed.

"Hold it, Sunstreaker goes first," Optimus nodded towards the yellow twin, "he was asked first,"

"Ratchet, is there any way to speed this up? Ya'know, instead of having to go through their entire life again?" Wheeljack asked.

"Perhaps… I can give it a try," Ratchet nodded, looking at Sunstreaker and jerking his head slightly toward the unoccupied berth. The yellow warrior lay down slowly on the waiting berth that accompanied the Memory Extraction Machine, "Is it gonna hurt?"

"You may experience some strange sensations, but I do not think it hurts," Starscream's optics went to Ratchet. It was fully apparent that _he_ had never had these done to himself.

"My aft!" Starscream suddenly growled, "I felt everything-" he leaned into the twin, his optics flashing mischievously, "prepare to feel all the pain you've ever felt in your entire life flash before your very spark, my friend," he patted the twin with a smug smirk and stood up, backing away.

Sunstreaker was suddenly wishing he wasn't the first to undergo this procedure.

* * *

_Next Chapter: Is Sunstreaker, one of the terrible two, a... *gasp* Ancient?_

_Constructive criticism is good! Ideas are good. Got one? Send em, I'm all up for plot twists *evil grins* not like this one don't have enough, hey? Flaming is bad. But if you must, I will not be held responsible for the reply you _may_ receive!_

_Yay, Steelers won and the new trailer is out (even though it was out a little before hand, but I guess it's now offical! (Starscream looks scary :P)  
_


	6. Et tu, Sunstreaker?

**Disclaimer:** Refer to chapter one. My disclaimer-thingy has gone on strike.

_So... Are you prepared to be surprised? You should be._

* * *

Sideswipe immediately noticed that there was a problem, "There's no sound,"

"I'm well aware of that, Sideswipe," Ratchet replied, "comes with the extraction,"

That took all the fun out of it. Or what he thought may have been fun. He had no idea just how wrong he was.

Boredom couldn't be put into words right now for the red twin, who had been in the bay for about 2 hours now. He could think of a lot better things to be doing that watching his and his brother's past flash before his optics on the monitor. He had even nodded off for a few minutes here and there.

Right now, it was a scene from their youngling hood. Before the wars, before anything bad had befallen their great planet. On Sunstreaker's HUD, it showed the pair in constant contact with each other with Cybertronian symbols to the left. Also there was a sparkbeat under the words. So their ability to share went further than just the spark and a special comm. link. Ratchet made mental note to ask one of them about it, as it had never been mentioned in Twin history, and no one knew about it in these two.

Sideswipe squirmed as the images played out, exposing the pair to their devious deeds. Optimus made a small sound and slowly turned his head to glimpse at the twin.

Now he wanted to shrink to the size of Sam's dead pet, Mojo.

Sunstreaker twitched. The twitch was immediately noticed by Sideswipe, "What was that?"

"An involuntary twitch," Ratchet said without hesitation.

"Is – is he _supposed_ to do that?" worry crept into his voice.

"It happens," came the reply.

"You know," Optimus said in mock thought, "Jazz got the blame for that," The leader spoke, a hint of amusement in his voice. Sideswipe squeaked. If this continued, then they would find out everything. Not good. Luckily, the machine was bouncing around randomly. It showed a few other pranks the twins had pulled, again Optimus commenting on who had gotten the blame for it. By the time this view was done, Sideswipe didn't want to talk to anyone. He huddled in a corner away from them all and dropped his head into his arms, which were across his knees.

**Memory Recall State – Gladiatorial Events**

A gasp went throughout the room. This made Sideswipe look up and he frowned.

'_Oh no,'_ he thought to himself, seeing what was coming. He wanted not only to become tiny as a flea, but to hide. No one really knew of the twins getting into the gladiatorial battles on Cybertron. It would help explain their lack of compassion on the field and their exquisite abilities, however.

Sunstreaker's body twitched violently a few times.

It showed numerous brutal fights, some ending in death, some not, and the twins rarely failed, always fighting as a fluid team. Ratchet eyed the HUD as it would flash a signal as to what to do, where, and Sunstreaker would do that quickly. This helped them immensely.

No one at the fights had even expected them to be twins, since they hadn't really looked alike, "Sideswipe," Optimus said calmly.

Sideswipe squeaked indignantly again, raising his head, he prepared for the onslaught of reprimands.

"This place made you into most noble Autobot warriors. I'm glad to have finally had the chance to see how you had… acquired your tactics,"

Was that a compliment for doing something underground? It was! Sideswipe let out a small smile.

"How did you ever control that psychopath's rage?" Starscream suddenly asked.

"Uh," He wasn't gonna tell them that. It was delicate, although nothing like what one would regard as a merge or any of the sort, "brotherly love?"

Starscream glanced at Sideswipe then back to the monitor, motioning for Ratchet to move on.

**Memory Recall State – Battle of Iacon**

It wasn't that great of a battle, granted but it made Starscream twinge with a revolting growl. It was a small fight to fend off invading Starscream and his wing mates from getting into an Energon reserve. It was the first time he had been introduced to their eccentric maneuvers that gave them this idiosyncrasy, their 'jet-judo' technique.

Twitch.

His optics snapped to the red twin, who gave an indignant smile.

"I uh… you were a Decepticon then!" Sideswipe offered, putting up his hands, "bad guys – good guys, remember? No hard feelings, eh?"

Starscream looked away, then nodded towards the monitor not wanting to see more.

**Memory Recall State – Unknown – view? **

Ratchet pressed a button.

Although it was very fast, it showed the same HUD and a different mech standing next to Sunstreaker. It was apparent it was Sideswipe just from the HUD, as the appearances compared to them were uncanny. They were in a courtyard in a city talking.

The screen went black.

So apparently they had lived other lives as well.

**Memory Recall State – Battle of Tyger Pax**

This is the one where the twins showed their best colors. They helped as snipers, and in front lines, not really knowing what was going on inside at the moment when Bee had disappeared with Megatron. They were there to fend off extras.

Twitch. Twitch.

Starscream watching curiously, not having been there for the battle much, was intrigued, "No wonder you two were front lines," he Stated and nodded for the extraction to move on.

**Memory Recall State – renamed 'Downfall'**

Here it showed what had happened to Starscream during his time on Earth after he had been shot down and after he was already at the base. It showed everything from Sunstreaker's point of view. Everyone cringed seeing the memory come back again. Sideswipe was willing to bet that they would see it with his own extraction.

Starscream looked away quickly, not needing to see more, "Move on," He Stated.

Then it happened. Ratchet hit the button and what Starscream had been looking for came into view. He pointed at the red words that came across the screen.

**WARNING: Unknown memory found – Firewalled.**

Like Starscream had previously, Sunstreaker's body started to convulse with an unnatural violence. His back arched hard and his arms flailed. All of the mechs there tried to bind the twin. He was stronger than they thought. Optimus flew backwards before he could secure the twin and Sideswipe ran up to him, grabbing his arm, and held it to be secured. His vocal processors let out a shrill whine.

The leader recovered quickly, glancing at Sunstreaker in surprise.

"Wh – What was that all about?" Sideswipe asked in a near monotonous voice.

Ratchet peered over the yellow warrior's body, "It happened when we got to this on Starscream,"

"What is it?"

"It's a natural defense that kicks in when this fastidious memory block is reached," Starscream nodded at the words, "sort of like a ultimate security against it being breached," Sideswipe glanced up, then did a double take, "What the slag does that mean?"

"It means I have found what I am looking for," he stepped closer after letting go of Sunstreaker's leg, eyeing the words, "How did you get by it, I wonder?" he tapped his chin in contemplation.

"Wheeljack?" Ratchet asked expectantly. The Engineer moved quickly beside Sunstreaker's other side, near his head, "You remember from last time?"

Wheeljack nodded, reaching down on his side of the yellow twin's head and opening the panel, searching for the green port. He pulled a wire, as did Ratchet, different, luckily, from the one that Sunstreaker had messed up. It took a moment to connect, and Wheeljack looked up, "On my mark," Ratchet said with apprehensiveness.

"3… 2…1… Mark," Ratchet stated and they accessed the memory as their optics dimmed and broke down the firewall. Shortly after, both bots jerked, this time Wheeljack was prepared for the recoil, but he still pulled his wrist away painfully, unhooking unceremoniously yet undamaged.

**WARNING: Silent Memory Firewall disabled – continue?**

"What the slag is a _silent_ memory?"

"Just you wait…" Starscream was pleased, "it gets better," the seeker hissed with a devilish tone.

Ratchet moved to his previous position near the controls and looked up. Optimus, who was in an utter state of shock, moved towards where he had been and Wheeljack took his own spot. Now was the time of truth.

It didn't take long for Starscream to recognize who he was. Why hadn't he thought of it before? Oh yeah, because it was the last thing he would ever have hoped for.

The first image to show on the monitor was the strange symbols in the HUD, only they were accompanied by infrequent and irregular symbols of their own and the sparkbeat. Sideswipe recognized it immediately as a twin HUD system. Wheeljack and Ratchet gawked a long moment. It was the same as it had been in more recent viewings, so they both wondered if it was a possibility that it may have been a trait that had always been with them.

At one point, Starscream actually snickered, making everyone look at him and he quickly forced the snicker away and watched the screen, pretending at his best that he wasn't holding back anymore snickers.

"Something funny you wish to share with us, Starscream?" Optimus asked.

"I… Uh – No, not at all," Starscream responded, still trying to spur away the fits he was having in his mind.

"Some reason, I do not believe you," Optimus suddenly said, his optics slit with mock indict.

"Nothing you need to be worried about," Starscream refused to look at his creator.

Then a phenomenon no one ever thought they would see was coming onto the screen. At first they didn't know who it was, but then, it became clear.

No, it couldn't be. But yes it was. Starscream himself was without a doubt standing there in view of the Sunstreaker's optics. He looked a little different, but not by much. His form was adorned with chrome, reds, blues and white. The red and blues seemed to trail down what looked like wing panels while the rest of him was decked out in chrome and white. These Ancients sure had strange color schemes.

It was the first time anyone had seen what he looked like. Instead of looking evil like they had always thought him to have been, he looked as regal as the rest of them. The Seeker smiled inwardly when they all stared in awe.

The Seeker then tilted his head and his optics flashed, and suddenly from head to toe, a dull bright strip of blue went down his body, following the strip was the same color scheme that had been on the screen. Everyone noticed the blue and turned as it finished, jaws went agape at the sudden color change. This Seeker was surely turning out to be strange.

Could they look forward to this from the twins as well?

The memory switched again to mechs talking, a few that Optimus had already seen before, but again when it got to Prima, he tilted his head inquisitively. He knew he knew that mech from somewhere, but where? Starscream noticed the questioning look on Optimus' face but said nothing.

Sideswipe was in shock. He didn't speak, he didn't move. His optics were glued to what was on the screen, "Unfortunately," Starscream turned to the twin, "You will need to go through this also,"

"W-what?" Sideswipe shook his head from his stupor, "Why?"

"Because to open your memories, this must happen," Starscream looked back toward the screen, instantly he put a hand up, "Stop that a moment, can you?" he asked, Ratchet. The screen paused on one of the Primes he could not remember the name of. He seemed strangely familiar now, but he couldn't place him. He saved him to memory for further investigation, "continue,"

It went to a view of the moon in the sky, "Are you sure that is Cybertron? There's a satellite – a moon,"

'_You only wish it was a moon,' _

"Okay, here and now, get this right," He pointed vehemently at the screen, "That is _not_ Cybertron... It's Primus," Starscream corrected, his voice changed to awe at seeing him in his glory again. He reached out and gently touched the screen, stroking his fingers downwardly over it in a longing manner.

"P-Primus? _What?_" Three voices rang out. It was distinct that Optimus was not surprised.

"I'll explain later," Starscream continued to watch.

"So that's not Cybertron?"

"It's what you know as Cybertron," Starscream contradicted.

"But… there's a satellite," Sideswipe pointed.

"Apparently, not everything is as it appears to be," Starscream said in his strange enigmatic dialect, glancing at Sides, "or haven't you realized this yet?"

"Wow…" Wheeljack muttered, and at this his optics went wide as he took in the fantastic information, "You mean Cybertron _is_ Primus?!" Apparently Primus was Cybertron, so their 'god' was their very own planet?

Starscream only nodded watching the screen with interest. He only just told them a few minutes ago. Were they really that daft at times?

"So what is it?" Sideswipe nodded towards the moon.

Starscream took a fleeting look at Sideswipe, and then flicked his optics towards Optimus who was also curious. But he only shook his head at the leader, his optics going back to the screen.

"You will find out,"

The memory kept switching, showing almost every one of the mechs there bar Sunstreaker himself and a few others here and there. Starscream counted 9 and watched until it came across another bot again and he asked for it to be stopped. He looked at Sideswipe, "That mech right there, Sideswipe," he pointed, "is you,"

Sideswipe would have fainted if he could have. The mech that Starscream pointed at was adorned in colors that Sideswipe wouldn't ever have considered having on him. He appeared to be black in color, but the obscurities of the darkness made it unfeasible to actually tell. He had a silver visor over his optics that were less pointed than Jazz' and had a distinct form that a battle mask would fit into. Down his body were indications of tan, silver and stripes of white. On his back were what appeared to be a set of wings. They appeared small in comparison to what Starscream looked like, so maybe they were an adornment? His left shoulder was mounted with a rather funny looking cannon. It appeared to be some sort of emitter, but what kind, he had no idea, since he had never seen anything like it before. The tip of it appeared to have a small pinpoint end to it and was white.

Starscream watched the monitor for a few seconds before narrowing his optics at a passing Ancient on the screen, an angry look taking over his face. The anger went unnoticed, thankfully.

The memory switched again. This time to what Sunstreaker had told Starscream. The Seeker watched as it played out. At first he hadn't recognized it. It was a vague memory. He had only seen the place once, maybe twice, "I want to know how Sunstreaker got this dream,"

"It's a dream,"

"No, this is the bar between space and time, where all realities become as one," He watched as a mech appeared behind the bar, "Pause it please,"

Paused.

He stepped even closer, looking at the mech as he analyzed the footage, it was one of the Ancients he hadn't counted previously, "And that mech there is Maccadam,"

"Who in the Allspark is Maccadam?"

"You'll find out soon enough, I am sure," Starscream said cryptically, making the red twin snort, "This is all we need, his memories have been unlocked, you can wake him," Starscream glanced at Sunstreaker. He never would have even guessed that these twins were the pair of the First Twins of Cybertron.

Sunstreaker was unhooked promptly after the machine was set to idle, and he suddenly opened his optics. To everyone but Starscream's astonishment, they were green, "I give you my humble greetings, Cornersun," Starscream made a strange gesture with his hand and Sunstreaker sat up, "Just call me Sunstreaker, Starscream, I like that name better." The yellow twin had replied with a strange tone, not all too dissimilar to Starscream's.

Primus, there was two and soon to be 3 of those cryptic bots. Optimus wasn't sure how the base would handle 3 of them… Inwardly he groaned.

"Where is my weapon?" Everyone but Starscream glanced at Sunstreaker's combat array he had concealed. He already had his weapons.

"Su – Sunny?" Sideswipe nearly choked out the words, looking his brother over, making Sunstreaker a bit uneasy, "Are you… alright?"

"Of course I'm alright," The yellow warrior replied with his all-too-well known attitude, "what, you think I would come back a different mech? Frag, what are they feeding you these days?"

He hopped down off the berth, "I need to sleep, wake me when he gets his done, alright?" he said as he went to leave, his mind already flooding with new memories of every life he had ever lived and what was vital and what was not, not looking at anyone. He waved over his shoulder as he left. He was not entirely awoken, but it would come, just as it gradually was coming back to Starscream.

"So he was _always_ like that?" Wheeljack asked incredulously.

"Well now that I am positive of who he is, I guess his demeanor may have followed him through the ages," Starscream smirked.

* * *

_So whatcha all think so far? Good? Bad?_

_Next chapter: Looks like someone has been keeping an eye on Autobot base._


	7. Men Believe What They Want To

**Disclaimer:** On the fritz.

_Next installment. Things only get more complicated, it seems._

* * *

"So how many did you count?" He had been sent to talk to this guy. Even he had no idea who he was. It was a simple text message, but got the point across. He wasn't to ask questions, only to supply information.

"Aside from the Autobot NBEs, there are 7 others we suspect to be Decepticons, which include small ones like the one associated with the one called Barricade."

"What do we know about them?"

"Not much sir, but earlier in the year we had set a couple satellites to watch the base, we also set an individual one on each of the two fliers I saw a few days ago,"

"Did they show anything that we should be worried about?"

"Well, after going over the surveillance footage, we found some disturbing information." The man turned the laptop towards the other and hit the play button. It was from a camera from only one of the main satellites they were using. It gave a brief image of Thundercracker and Skywarp.

"I heard they go by the designations 'Skywarp' and 'Thundercracker', the one known as Starscream called them by these designations while I was there. They both appeared hostile by the way they were acting,"

The other man nodded. At first it showed nothing but the two standing around, but then they started walking, heading to what appeared to be a target range where Ironhide had been firing rounds at inanimate targets. Nothing unusual. Then it showed the two talking to Ironhide before they moved away from him and took position to his far right. Ironhide went back to firing at targets.

"I don't see anything," The man responded as he continued to stare, waiting for something dramatic to come.

"Keep watching," The other replied.

Then it happened. They watched as the camera seemed to go through several different filters as Skywarp suddenly vanished, and reappeared behind Ironhide, grabbing him over the neck and around his other arm. Ironhide seemed to struggle, and managed to take the arms around his neck with his free arm and flipped him over his shoulder. Both men were surprised. This black guy was pretty strong if he could pull that off. As they kept watching, his cannons aimed at Skywarp, and then Thundercracker seemed to be behind a boxcar, watching what was going on, and as soon as Ironhide turned again, he suddenly sprang out, weapons aimed and fired. Ironhide had dodged the fire and ran towards Thundercracker who suddenly put his arms out in front of him as something under his arms in his chest flipped to his front and apparently fired, sending Ironhide to his back. Both Seekers moved to the downed Ironhide and the purple one placed a foot on his chest, while the blue one leaned down over him. When they were done, Skywarp looked to the sky and just before both took off; he glanced right towards the satellite. There was no apparent emotion.

"What is this?"

"It looks to be an attack on the Autobot Weapon Specialist, designated Ironhide."

"What did those two do?"

"It appears they attacked him and perhaps said something to him."

"What were those maneuvers they were doing?"

"Well one disappeared and reappeared in a different location and the other used some sort of shockwave strong enough to drop the black one,"

"I want to know how," The man behind the desk tapped at the file he had under his hands. The other man, noticing the tapping, looked down. It was the entire file on NBE 1.

"There was also a satellite dedicated to the other big one. The smaller ones seemed to be with it a lot so we felt no need to place a satellite for each one. We do not know anything about it."

"Can I see it?"

The man turned the laptop around and went through the saved images and video captures of it and turned the computer back around. It showed a yellow Autobot and a red one standing outside, seemingly enjoying the air and talking. Then out walked this more menacing looking one, slightly larger than the two. It stopped at the door and stood there as if it were on guard.

Suddenly, after a few moments there were a few sparks from his body in different places and his arm went out straight, 4 smaller bots leapt from his body. The two on the ground went after the yellow mech while the two flying went towards the red one. They jumped at them, landing on their faces, and what the men saw was the two Autobots apparently under some sort of struggle as they tried to get the smaller bots off of them. They couldn't see what exactly the four smaller ones were doing to the Autobots, but after a few minutes, the symbiots detached themselves from the mechs and suddenly scuttled towards the big one and vanished again. The man paused the footage.

"Another attack?"

"We think so," What did he know about Autobot culture?

The other man leaned back, "I wonder if the leader of these NBEs know what is going on?"

"No hostile actions have been taken, so either no one is talking, or he accepts this strange behavior,"

"Perhaps some talks should be in order to get these Decepticons from the Autobot base?"

"The Decepticons are apparently hostile and the entire lot of them is dangerous. If we were to somehow manage to wrangle the Decepticons up, there's no saying they wouldn't kill people to get free."

"They haven't attacked humans the entire time they were here, and we hold no government treaties over how they treat each other,"

"There was the plasma cannon incident,"

The man behind the desk smirked darkly, "Yes, yes there was,"

"Then there is no way to get them. They are under the protection of the Autobots."

"Find a way," The man put his hands on the table and stood up, "I am going to go and talk to a few people,"

He took the laptop and closed it, "I will see what more I can find out about them. There should be profiles coming soon per request of the Secretary – More specifically the other Autobots as well," The other man then grinned, "I _am_ one of his 'bodyguards'." He picked up the laptop and left promptly.

-

The Secretary received the files at his request and they sat on his desk waiting for him later that day. Each file had information on each Decepticon, given willingly by Optimus. He knew he had Optimus', Bumblebee's, Ironhide's, Jazz', and Ratchet's profiles. He had no information on any other Autobot or Decepticon. It was probably from forgetting or what not. Today he would have all of the files for all of the Autobots and Decepticons. He looked over the first one.

THUNDERCRACKER was written across the top.

He opened the file, the first picture was of a bluish F-22 Raptor. He set it aside and the next was an image profile of him, showing a front view, side view and back view with height and weights. He remembered the silver jet calling him Thundercracker. The name was the same. His eyes went to Thundercracker's Cybertronian duty. His function was what they called a 'Decepticon Seeker'.

He looked over the paper for a description of a Seeker, but found nothing. Interesting. He set the paper to the side.

He read down the next paper.

ABILITIES: Thundercracker has the unique ability to manipulate shockwaves as an effective weapon.

He read further to his weapons.

WEAPONS SYSTEM: Thundercracker has an arm mounted fusion cannon on his left and his right he has a laser rifle. On each wrist are mini guns. Each armament was listed with an image and brief description of their attack power, range and whatnot.

Well apparently they weren't hiding anything about him. He smiled and went to the next file, deciding to read Thundercracker's personality and such later.

SKYWARP was written across the top of the file.

He opened the second file to find an identical jet in the image, only his coloring was a bit different. His tail fins were purple, his body was black and he had a purple and silver strip down his wings. Interesting color scheme. He placed the picture to the side, viewing his image profile details. Identical to Thundercracker.

The next was listed almost identical to Thundercracker's duty as a Seeker. He nodded to himself and placed the paper to the side, curious what this one's armament and abilities were.

ABILITIES: Has the unique ability to displace time and space, similar to a wormhole, moving from one place to another in the blink of an eye. What a strange ability. What would he do if something like that attacked? He was sure glad it wasn't the case, because he didn't know.

He looked down further.

WEAPONS SYSTEMS: Skywarp has a small projectile firing Gatling piston on his left shoulder. On his right arm he has a plasma missile launcher and on his left he has a ray cannon with accuracy of firing as he exits wormholes. The mini guns on his wrists have this same accuracy as the ray cannon.

Terry nodded to himself, deciding to read the rest later and placed the file to the side, on top of Thundercracker's file.

SOUNDWAVE

Ok, he had never even heard this name before.

He opened the file to find the image of what appeared to be an F-117 Nighthawk. He moved the paper to find a very menacing looking creature in the image profiles. The side shot showed a rather large what appeared to be cannon on his right shoulder. On the front profile, this one showed it had a mask like Optimus wore when in battle and a visor similar to Jazz'. He cocked his head. His other profiles of bots that had battle masks or visors had both pictures with and without the features. This one had none. Just looking at Soundwave gave him the creeps. Moving on, he looked for what his function was. He read with a puckered eye, Decepticon Chief Communications Specialist and High Priest. He'd never thought that the Cybertronians had a priest. He wondered what that function meant.

Time for this guy's abilities and armament.

ABILTIES: to manipulate sound using decibels and sine waves either too high or too low for human hearing as an effective weapon using his shoulder mounted radio wave sensor.

Has 5 symbiots: RAVAGE, RUMBLE, FRENZY, BUZZSAW, and LASERBEAK. Frenzy is partnered with Barricade.

The ability to sense sounds from around a _confidential_ amount of miles and can also hear radio waves from a _confidential_ distance.

Soundwave also has the ability to read other Cybertronian processors. With this ability, he can also extract information at will; however the procedure is painful and can lead to a neural net shutdown – imminent death.

So that thing on his shoulder wasn't a cannon, it was a radio wave amplifier/sensor. Well no wonder he had that name. Terry snorted with a smirk. This guy was very dangerous, even he knew that 200 decibels could kill a human, and he could use them beyond human hearing? Freaky.

WEAPONS SYSTEMS: Soundwave has the most weapon armament ever recorded on a Decepticon. His left arm has a plasma missile launcher, below it, there is an electrical pulse disrupter coupled with a mini gun that fires laser type projectiles. On his right arm he has a pair of laser rifles and has the ability to create a spiked flail much like Barricade for close range. His most dangerous weapon is his use of sound, which is also his preferred type of attack. Who was Barricade again?

Again, Terry wanted to read the rest of these creature's alternate modes, functions, abilities and armaments, so he set the file aside.

STARSCREAM

He felt a pang of dread hit him, perhaps guilt. He opened the file, seeing Starscream's alternate mode which was a silver F-22 Raptor, just like the previous two. He set that paper aside and looked at his image profile and function. It was slightly different from the other two. He read Autobot and Decepticon Seeker Commander. So he was the leader of the three. He went on.

ABILITIES: _Confidential_. Short and to the point. So they had something to hide?

WEAPONS SYSTEMS: Starscream has on his left upper arm what is called Null Ray, able to disrupt technology functions for a limited amount of time. His right hand can form into a missile launcher and he has a Gatling machine gun on each wrist, next to each Gatling gun, is an electron pulse emitter.

He looked towards the other opened files and proceeded to line them and close them, setting them aside from the ones he had yet to go over. There were two secrets they had to hide and Terry wanted to know why. He turned to the phone, feeling it was his right to know everything about them.

* * *

_Next Chapter: Sideswipe realizes who he is and Starscream gets a visitor!_


	8. Unless You Believe,You Won't Understand

**Disclaimer:** Do. Not. Own.

**A/N:** _Ok! I know... you're all prolly wondering what the hell was up with that last chapter. It's kinda important for later on. Sorry for the confusion. Now on with the real story! I hope you all like it and it's up to your expectations!_

* * *

Sideswipe looked at the berth with uneasiness. He remembered what all had happened to his brother and wasn't sure if he wanted to go through with it. He stared at it, unmoving, "What are you waiting for? I don't have all day," Ratchet grumbled.

"Well, here goes nothing," Sideswipe moved towards it and leaned back until his head clanked on the metal. He watched as Ratchet hooked him up to the machine. The last thing he remembered was Ratchet saying something and Optimus responding. Then he was out like a light.

"Here we go," Ratchet stated as he set the machine on the recalls. Starscream gave Ratchet a funny look, "Can't you go to that specific memory state?"

"Unfortunately, no. Their memories are unsorted and those silent memories can be anywhere in there. We must go until I find it,"

"Well at least we won't take half as long, knowing what we are looking for," Wheeljack said. He had a point, Ratchet could go on until he found the specific memory core, "Very true," he turned toward the monitor and waited.

**Memory Recall State – Youngling**

It was the exact same thing they had seen with Sunstreaker. Except this time it was from Sideswipe's point of view. It was showing the exact same pranks that they had seen with Sunstreaker as well. They also noticed that the sparkbeat and the wording were this time on the right, as if their HUDs were mirrored. Knowing what it was, Ratchet moved on to the next one.

**Memory Recall State – Gladiatorial Events**

It showed the exact same fights that had been seen with Sunstreaker, again, only as being seen by Sideswipe. Optimus shook his head, still in disbelief that the two were even involved in something so vicious.

**Memory Recall State – Battle of Iacon**

Now everyone who was watching were assuming all of the memories were going to be like this, and also assumed that the silent memory would be hidden in the same place. There was so much alike in the bots, they wondered how they ended up so different on the outside. Two sides of the same coin? Perhaps. Starscream nodded and Ratchet went on.

**Memory Recall State – Unknown – view? **

Again, the same thing. This was becoming redundant. It was over just as quick.

* * *

Meanwhile, in another part of the base, a call came in, which was answered abruptly, "Yes? This is Autobot Cliffjumper, may I help you?" the red Minibot answered the incoming call.

"_Yeah, do you think I could talk to Optimus?"_ Cliffjumper recognized him immediately as the Secretary of Defense.

"One moment," Cliffjumper hailed Optimus on their internal comm., _"-Optimus, the secretary wishes to speak with you,-"_

"_-Not right now, I am in the middle of something very important,-"_

"_-I will tell him,-"_ he closed the comm. and spoke to the Secretary, "I'm sorry, he is indisposed right now, can I take a message?"

"_No, I rather talk to him myself, are you sure there is no way to get him on the line?"_

"Positive. Whatever he is doing he said is important and he cannot deviate from it right now."

Terry sighed, _"Very well,"_ he answered the Minibot before he closed the line. He decided he might wanna take a visit to the Autobot base to speak with the leader personally. He stood up, reached for his own car keys and left. The files remained spread out over the desk.

* * *

**Memory Recall State – Damaged – Attempt to salvage?**

Well here was something new. Ratchet turned to the others and they all turned to him. Optimus nodded. He could attempt it, no guarantees that it would be, but what the heck? And why had this anomaly happened? Optimus shook his head, causing the other's to turn to him, curious of his behavior, "What is it, Optimus?" Ratchet asked as the machine sorted through Sideswipe's memory.

"Cliffjumper had commed me and told me that the Secretary apparently wished to speak to me,"

"What did you tell him?"

"That I was busy and couldn't leave my post,"

Starscream smiled. His creator was getting that these extractions were of utmost importance.

**Salvaging… Done.**

The screen came to life with what they saw as a road on Cybertron. In front of Sideswipe a few mechs were standing. The Cybertronian reading on the HUD was reading something about a race. So they raced as well? The mechs in front moved and the race was on, Sideswipe next to his brother until there was a sudden very bright light and everything went dark on the HUD as the sparkbeat on the left went erratic and ceased. The memory ended.

So two lives now. Optimus watched and wondered how many times they had been reborn.

**Memory Recall State – Battle of Tyger Pax**

The memories resumed their mirror like appearance, this time from a different point of view as they continued to watch.

"This is getting annoying," Starscream muttered.

"Well, you're the one who stated we needed to do it this way,"

"I'm beginning to wonder if it would have been alright to take the other way out,"

Ratchet hit the button.

**Memory Recall State – renamed 'Decepticon Demise'**

It had been renamed, but judging by what floated across the screen, it was the same thing, except it showed Starscream's attack on him and how he responded. This was one thing that differentiated from Sunstreaker's point of view. Starscream looked away with a snort. Ratchet needed no words to know what it meant.

And here it was, when he hit the button, it came across the screen.

**WARNING: Unknown memory found – Firewalled.**

"You know, Maccadam isn't going to be the happiest mech when he sees these two again," Starscream almost grinned as he watched Wheeljack take his place beside Sideswipe's head.

"So who is Maccadam?" Wheeljack asked as he looked up from the side of Sideswipe's head after finding the port and connecting to it.

"Well I can tell you his is one of the 13. Who exactly he is? Well most would consider it a rumor. I am surprised none of you heard about it."

"Well I did I think once." Ratchet stated and looked to Wheeljack, "On my mark," he stated.

"Mark," Both accessed the memory state and both recoiled from Sideswipe from the backlash. Why did this procedure have to be so painful?

**WARNING: Silent Memory Firewall disabled – continue?**

"Then you have heard of the bar between space and time?" Starscream asked.

Ratchet separated from the red twin and nodded as he put away his wire, Wheeljack doing the same, "Well it wasn't called that. It was called 'The Magic Bar'."

"Oh, now that you mention it," Wheeljack suddenly said, "I heard of it too,"

"Through your history, it had been said that a few mechs passed through there, but since it was so few, it was made to look more like a rumor than an actual place. It's no wonder that it is considered as such," Starscream glanced up at the screen, already knowing basically what was going to be seen, only this time Sunstreaker came into view. None were very surprised to see a sheen of gold in his place. His body adorned with the iridescent color where it met black and silver with chrome, "You know, he always had a thing for his looks then too," Starscream mentally smacked himself for not noticing the similarities before. Perhaps it was just too obvious, "although he never worried about it when it came to battle,"

"You never did say why Maccadam won't be pleased with seeing them again,"

"You're absolutely right," Starscream grinned, "actually, he considered them to be bad luck."

"Bad luck? Why?"

"He thought all twins were such because they were apparently, to him, a freak of nature, however I think Primus did it for a reason,"

"But why would Primus create a pair like that?"

"Maybe it was a cruel joke knowing they would haunt us for the rest of their many lives," Everyone chuckled at Wheeljack's statement.

"I don't know why he did," Starscream stated, looking over to Wheeljack with a smirk, "Although I don't think he was considering that they were a nuisance then either,"

Wheeljack returned the comment with a shrug as he went back to watching the screen. Nothing new was happening, it was basically the same thing as previously seen. But then something weird happened. The screen went back and then became brighter with the image of going towards the supposed moon. All of them were flying after it, Sideswipe was situated behind two other jet-like starships, one was Prima the other was Vector Prime, "Where are they going?"

"To battle," Starscream said as he reached down and in a quick instant unhooked a lead from the machine and it went erratic before going idle. Ratchet turned his glare to him, "What did you do?"

"Me?" Starscream asked in mock surprise, "Why ever would you think _I_ did something?"

Ratchet's glare deepened, "Guilty conscience? Because you unhooked something,"

"He was done, Ratchet,"

"No, there's more to this than you're telling." Wheeljack suddenly said, "It was the exact moment that you came out of your extraction and left." Starscream shrugged and backed away from Sideswipe, hearing him come online.

"Welcome back Sideswipe," Optimus smiled down at the twin.

"My head hurts! And I think I got too much going on in my head, I need some recharge before I even attempt to actually do something about it,"

"Good idea," Starscream smirked and nodded at him, "You'll have plenty of time," he clapped the twin on the shoulder, "Your brother wanted me to wake him, but I think you can wake him,"

Sideswipe looked at the Seeker and nodded before getting up and headed out the door, "And now that this is done, I am going to my own chambers," and with that announcement, he left.

Back in the twin's quarters, Sideswipe walked in and flumped unceremoniously onto his berth and let out what could possibly be a sigh. He knew his brother was still asleep, so he didn't even bother trying to speak to him. He rolled to his side as his mind started reeling, but he forcibly ignored it and set himself to recharge.

Starscream had made his way back to his own quarters and set himself down. He was happy to find that he had recovered at least 2. There were so many still, and he knew it would be a while. He mused a moment, thinking about how much Maccadam didn't like the twins, if Ironhide was that particular missing mech. He quickly dismissed it with a chuckle to himself. He shuttered his optics off as he went into recharge.

-

A day later while he was still relaxing from the recent ordeals, a forewarning came to him. It wasn't necessarily bad, but it was still there, "Something is coming," he muttered to himself, his optics shuttering open as the sense got stronger. It was confirmed when there was a sudden yelling coming from somewhere else on the base. He got up quickly and exited his quarters, headed for more yelling, he distinctly heard someone yell, 'Who are you?' the voice sounded like Prowl's. He also heard another voice that didn't quite speak Cybertronian, but the Ancient words as scripted on the Allspark, this immediately made him move faster.

He slid to a stop near the main bay doors when a heard weapon powering up, "Identify yourself immediately!" Prowl's voice commanded.

Again the tongue, **"I am Vector Prime, Guardian of Space and time,"** he had taken a defensive stance, unsure if the one questioning him would attack him or not.

Starscream looked in and his jaw nearly hit the floor, recognizing the mech immediately, **"V-Vector? Vector Prime?"** He asked, his voice nearly a whisper. Prowl's optics followed the strange tongue and found Starscream standing there, "What are you two saying?" Starscream instantly turned his attention to Prowl, "Never mind, what are you _doing_?" His voice not only took on a more commanding tone, but switched back to English, "Put that weapon away immediately!"

The mech that was in the room turned his head, dropping the tip of his sword as he heard Starscream, **"I found you!"** he chimed in his ancient tongue, relieving his defensive stance with an idler one. Just as he said this, Optimus, Wheeljack and Ratchet all came to the door, all three of them stopped dead in their tracks, looking upon the mech. He looked exactly like the one they had seen before, right down to the orb in his chest.

Starscream stepped from the three and walked closer, glaring at Prowl, "He is not an enemy," he growled. Prowl glanced at Optimus who still hadn't taken his optics from the other Prime.

"Starscream," Prowl's optics went back to the Seeker, "Just what in Primus is going on here?"

Starscream held in a smirk, "certainly nothing that requires hostilities, I assure you," he looked back towards the Keeper who spoke in his native tongue, **"What is this strange tongue they are speaking?"**

"**English, there is a way to learn it quickly, connect to the planet's network, you will find it there,"** Starscream explained, causing everyone to look at him because of the strange tongue that came from him.

"Who is this mech?" Prowl asked, hoping someone would know what in Primus was going on.

Vector Prime had done as suggested, downloading the tongue called English, and as soon as he had realized what was asked, he turned towards Prowl to explain this time in a language he could understand, "My name is Vector Prime-" A regal voice in English came from the mech, one as regal as Optimus himself.

This, itself made all three of the gawking bots blink a few times, "He's… he's one of the ones from the viewing!" Wheeljack stuttered over himself as he cut off the Prime, shocked in awe. Vector Prime looked towards Wheeljack, "I am the Keeper of Space and Time. I do not know all of the facts, only that Starscream's spark signature was in tune with mine. So I came."

"I also feel the twins here, am I correct? I just recently felt the second one before I arrived,"

"Yes, you are correct, they are here,"

"Where are the others?" Vector's voice demanded, slightly confused by the different mechs standing around.

"Can we take this somewhere else?" Starscream beckoned the Prime, looking over at Prowl, trying to hint they needed to speak about this in private, "Please, follow me," he nodded towards the corridor that Optimus was standing. He stepped forward, and as he approached the three standing there, he nodded at them, "Since you three know the most, I think you should hear what he has to say,"

"What about the rest of us?" Prowl suddenly asked, his weapon disappearing.

"In due time," Starscream said over his shoulder, not even looking at him, walking past the three with Vector Prime in tow. The three followed behind Vector.

-

Starscream lead the 4 to Optimus' office and when they entered, the door shut and locked on it's own apparent accord. Wheeljack stood by Ratchet, who was leaning on the wall near the door. Optimus was standing near his own desk while Starscream and Vector Prime were farther from the door.

"So, what is going on _now?_" Ratchet asked, folding his arms tersely across his chest.

"Who are all of you?" Vector Prime suddenly asked.

"They are Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots-"

"Auto… bots?" Vector Prime asked, unsure of the term.

"I'll explain later," Starscream narrowed his optics, "Ratchet, his Chief Medical Officer," and then he nodded towards Wheeljack, "Chief Mechanical Engineer," Vector Prime's glaze followed his, and he nodded towards each one in a greeting, "Starscream, where are the twins?"

"Resting,"

"So where are the others?"

Starscream shrugged, "Not sure yet, actually, I just found the twins yesterday," Starscream said, casually, "I still have a boatload to go through, though,"

"Wait a minute," Ratchet interrupted, "you don't seriously think we are going to run those memory extractions on everyone, do you?"

Starscream looked over and glared with a snort, "How else do I find the others? A sudden bout of instant 'finding'? I think not,"

"How can you not know, Starscream? You are the one with remote viewing," Vector Prime raised an optic ridge at him.

"Because some of them have gone I guess into a type of hiding. They are hidden somehow in the memory. That is how I remembered me. When we run a memory extraction, with Ratchet and Wheeljack's assistance, we unlock this certain silent memory and here we be,"

"Do you think the rest are still yet to be found?"

Starscream nodded, "I have reason to believe that some of them could be one of these very bots,"

"I see," Vector Prime nodded, "I did come across Maccadam not too long ago. He said that he knew what was going on about Unicron as well and said he sent a message to the twins,"

"Ah," Starscream raised his head slightly with understanding, "That's why Sunstreaker got that dream,"

"And Sunstreaker is…?"

"You know him as Cornersun," Starscream said, "Sideswipe is the other, and they prefer those names now,"

"So what exactly is going on?" Optimus asked.

Vector Prime's optics turned to a shocked glare, "You haven't _told_ them?" He suddenly asked.

"I… I haven't been given the opportunity to tell them everything, Vector, Optimus knows the most," Starscream supplied, the chiding he had received making him nervous.

"He has spoken about Megatron, and someone named Unicron?" Optimus offered.

"I do not know who this Megatron is," Vector Prime said, "but I do know about Unicron's very real threat on the universe," he paused, "and his reuniting with The Fallen-"

Disregarding the fallen name as nothing but a death, "Alright, wait up, hold on, _hold the phone_," Wheeljack suddenly cut in, "Who exactly is Unicron?"

"Unicron is who is known as 'The Eater of Worlds',"

"Eater of Worlds?" Optimus echoed, now very much intrigued, "What does that mean?"

Starscream shied from Optimus, "Exactly as it is said?" her offered.

"You mean he _eats_ worlds?" Wheeljack asked dubious and surprised, "Literally?"

Vector Prime raised an optic ridge, surprised that they didn't know, "What don't they know?"

"Everything," Starscream let out a burst of air the sounded a lot like a sigh.

-

About an hour later, the bodyguard who'd been speaking what that mysterious man had walked to the office of the Secretary, finding it open. Walking in, he saw something most interesting and set about skimming through the files.

* * *

_Next Chapter: Another Ancient is found! Who do **you** think it may be?_


	9. If the Shoe Fits, Wear It

**A/N**: _Hope you're all enjoying this story so far :) I don't own anything but the plot._

_BTW, I hate to be annoying, but please go to _Learning to Fly here (take out the spaces): http: //www. audiofanfic. com/?p= 482 _and vote! With enough votes, it may make it to audio. Wouldn't that be sweet? You know you wanna :P_

* * *

_Another mission the powers have called me away  
Another time to carry the colors again  
My motivation an oath I've sworn to defend_

Stalking through the next galaxy with indefinable speed, he flew through it without hitting anything. Easily dodging the stars and planets he came across, and careful not to get near the small black holes that littered it, knowing their event horizon would rip him to pieces.

_To win the honor of coming back home again  
No explanation, will matter after we begin  
Another dark destroyer that's buried within_

He flew from the galaxy, disappearing into the vacuum of the cosmic web known as the universe, headed in the intended direction of his prize.

Further away, from where he began his journey, there was a roar. Even if there was no sound, radio waves and vibrations from him as he tried to escape made the planets and such shatter with a force that blew them into pieces. He had been trying to push his way through, the rip that held him searing his armor as he tried to force it to get bigger.

_My true vocation and now my unfortunate friend  
You will discover a war you're unable to win_

When he realized that it wouldn't budge this time, he backed off. He would try again soon enough. With all of the pressure and vibrations he was putting to the rip, he was in fact making the rip bigger. He scrambled any possibility of being found as he sent out a time/space disrupter. He knew that there were mechs with the ability to travel through time and space, and even if they were minute compared to him, they had defeated him before. It would not happen again.

_I'll have you know that I've become... Indestructible_

-

A few hours later back at the base, found the two Ancients talking in Starscream's quarters after the meeting in Optimus' office. They stopped talking at the mention of Unicron, especially when neither Starscream nor Vector Prime gave an answer about the planet sized monster. His manner was similar to how he was with all of the others around the base when he wasn't speaking of his cryptic past, so he had no reason to be different with him. Both had been rather quiet while they mostly looked at each other. A lot was going through their minds.

Starscream was musing on his growing abilities as he sat in the room. They were slow coming, he felt, but he assumed it to be this way so that his Processor didn't overload with the power. He had the ability to remote view, and had the ability to see a bit ahead in time, but not much, perhaps seconds before it happened. He also knew of his ability of slight telekinesis. He would explain how the doors were opening on their own accord. He preferred to keep that to himself and the ones he knew, rather enjoying the quizzical looks that went around the rooms.

Vector Prime, on the other hand, was worry about the Cybertronian's futures. He knew what they all would be facing once that monstrosity found its way to freedom. He knew that there would probably be casualties with it as well. His spark felt both gifted and cursed with the abilities to see every different future to be able to determine the best course of action. If it was up to him, however, he would rather be surprised, especially when a course of action, no matter what, ended in casualty.

"Well congrats, Mr. bounce-out-with-everything, I think you scared the slag out of everyone in that room," Starscream finally spoke, setting his thoughts for later and breaking Vector Prime from his train of process. Vector Prime looked up with a shake of the head, confused, instant derail. Starscream smirked.

"What do you mean?" Vector Prime glared at Starscream. He knew this bot and the way he thought. He, that other Prime, along with Boltax were always a little creepy for his own standards, and he had seen and dealt with a lot. This Seeker was pushing those limits with his cryptic being. He always seemed like he knew more than he let on and this façade allowed him to be victorious, especially when his glares were so unreadable.

"What I mean is, there is a reason I haven't told them everything," Starscream nearly growled, "you should know by now that there is always a motive to _my_ madness,"

"That could be deemed questionable – And why should you not?" the guardian huffed, "Motive or not, do you not think it is a smart plan to tell them what they will be facing?"

"They aren't ready for it, Vector," He said, looking away, trying to think of a good analogy to come up with, "Think of it this way," He started with a sigh, unable to really think of anything, "if someone you didn't know walked up to you and told you that there was a giant mechanical _transforming_ planet that eats other planets was harassing the universe, would you believe them?" Vector Prime was about to answer and Starscream held up his hand, stopping him, pretty much knowing the answer, "Never mind, don't answer that,"

"They need to know,"

"Yeah, just wait until you tell them that he turns into a gigantic mech!"

"They still need to know!"

Ignoring Vector Prime's rant, he continued, "And I can't _wait_ to see their faces when you tell them that Cybertron will also turn into a giant mech too… classic," Starscream sneered.

"You've become quite the cheeky little afthead, haven't you?"

"Gotta keep up my image somehow – Hey! Who are you calling little?" the Seeker asked mischievously.

Vector Prime's glare only got deeper, going back to the issue at hand, "They are really that backwards? They really don't know?" It baffled him as to how they had been erased from history. The story of the 13 fighters for their kind, wiped away like a bad memory. He wanted to find out why, however. It unnerved him that someone went to such lengths to make them disappear.

Starscream shook his head, "And they have no idea of the origins of the Allspark, believing that thirteen construction workers found it in a cave, heh,"

"So you mean to tell me that they think that the Allspark was found?" Starscream nodded, "so they really don't know what happened?"

"Not at all," Starscream said, "They were given a completely different history. Hell, half the base thinks I am making this slag up!" Starscream said in derision, "and what's worse, they didn't even believe that Primus actually existed. They thought everything was myth!"

"A myth? Do _I_ look like a myth?" Vector Prime asked, waving his hand in front of himself for emphasis.

Starscream shrugged, "Just saying. It's going to blow their minds. And the only ones who know about Primus outside of us are Optimus, Ratchet and Wheeljack. I had to tell them at Sunstreaker's memory extraction,"

"They all must be briefed completely," Vector Prime said gently, "and we must return to Primus as soon as we can,"

"Yeah, about that," Starscream looked away from the mech who stared him down, still shocked himself to find out that no one knew the truth, "they are in the first stages of making a starship."

"Can't they fly?" Vector Prime asked. All thirteen had the ability to fly, so it was the only logical question.

"No, actually. Flying is limited now and varies between mechs. There are ground versions and flying versions, aside from Seekers; I assume changes through evolution," he suddenly turned sharply towards the door as it opened.

There stood the twins, "Thought we would find you here, Starscream," Sunstreaker stated. Both of them saw Vector Prime there and searched their crazed processors for him. They both smiled and stepped into the room.

"Vector Prime," They both made a hand gesture, "how good it is to see you again, sir,"

"Haven't found any trouble yet? I'm surprised," Starscream deadpanned.

Vector Prime nodded, "Likewise, the both of you,"

"The day hasn't started yet, and there's way too much information going through _my_ processors to even start looking for trouble," Sideswipe sighed. He had been in recharge longer than he had ever remembered. His mind was reeling when he woke, filing what was useful and what was not to clear itself up from the onslaught it had received from the extraction. He wondered how he had ever forgotten it all in the first place.

"Same here," Sunstreaker droned as he rubbed his face vigorously, having the same problems as his brother.

"So fill us in," Sideswipe suddenly said, hopping up on Starscream's berth and swinging his legs, "what have we _really _missed that you have been refusing to tell everyone?"

Starscream sighed, "Unicron, I fear he has returned,"

Both of the twins gasped at this, "You can't be serious! B-but How?"

The Seeker only nodded to them, "A rip in time and space, caused by a supernova and a black hole in a remote galaxy,"

Although he wasn't here yet, he was going to be… sometime. Even Vector Prime felt it.

"Yes, it's very true," Vector Prime said, taking up the conversation, "I felt and knew of the rip as soon as it happened. A galaxy that I could not go to, because I cannot get an actual fix-"

"What? You're the keeper of time and space, Vector, how can you 'not get an actual fix'? You should be able to appear right there!" Sideswipe asked in frustration.

"Something has prevented me from getting there – that – and there is a block that makes getting close and searching impossible, so I can't even get close enough to get an actual fix, he could be anywhere."

"Well isn't that lovely," Sunstreaker groaned, "he's like a turd that won't flush! Scum of the universe, I tell you…"

"A _what?_" Vector Prime asked, puzzled at the use of words.

Sunstreaker smiled sheepishly but didn't respond. He had forgotten that the mech wasn't used to the terminologies they were using, "Never mind, you wouldn't understand," he told him.

"Haven't changed a bit, have you?" Vector Prime asked archly at Sunstreaker, who glared at him defiantly.

"How long will it be until he could possibly get out?" Sideswipe interrupted the glare, asking.

"I don't know, actually, the variables are indeterminable. It could be as soon as now or millennia away," Vector Prime lowered his head slightly.

"As determined as he is, you know he will get out as soon as he can," Sideswipe concluded, "With his power, he could be out very soon,"

"Dually noted," Vector Prime commented, now having taken up pacing, "how long until the starship is ready?"

"Few weeks, I guess," Sideswipe said with a shrug.

"That should give us enough times to find the rest, given they are actually here and not hiding out on Primus,"

"Any ideas on which mech they could be? Perhaps narrow the search a bit?" Sunstreaker asked, a bit clueless on searching.

"Well, considering that the twins were staring me in the face, I will try to find simil-" Starscream halted suddenly, his face lighting up as he came to realization about something, "You know what?" he put up a finger, "I think I may know who was the guardian of Rarified Energon,"

Vector Prime wondered why he wasn't just coming out and saying the mech's name. He knew damned well who the guardian of Rarified Energon was.

"Who else can manipulate Energon?" Starscream paused, "that we _know_ about,"

The twins in unison both gave Starscream a sudden stare of revelation, "Soundwave!" They both said.

Starscream nodded, "Yup,"

"He's creepy enough as it is. Knowing he is an Ancient makes it all the worse," Sideswipe said as he hopped down from the berth, "I'll go get him,"

"That's why I recognized the Prime on the screen!" Starscream shook his head, "I still am not sure why I could not remember his name – What was it again?"

"Um… Soundwave?" And it fit, Starscream considered, especially since he was an assemblage of several mechs in the past. It explained his symbiots immediately.

"Do you wish to see the viewing, given that he allows it?" he asked Vector and Sunstreaker.

"Soundwave was compiled of Skyfall, Landquake, Breakaway, Topspin and Heatwave." Sunstreaker paused, making sure the others were following, "Rumble," He pointed to each finger as he named them off, "Frenzy, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw and Ravage," It counted to five.

"I would be happy to," Vector Prime said with a smile in answer to the viewing. Sunstreaker only nodded. A few minutes later, Starscream looked towards the door, and right on cue, Sideswipe and Soundwave and the symbiots were standing there.

"Enter," Starscream said, waving them in. Soundwave stepped forward, curious why he had been singled out. The symbiots also followed. The door slid shut quickly behind them and locked. Soundwave gave a questioning look. This was a surprise in itself, since he was as stoic as a wall.

"Reasoning for call: required," the CCS spoke, curious why he had been interrupted from his duties to come here albeit unwillingly. Vector Prime gave him a strange look.

"Soundwave, you remember the conversation we had about leaving?" Starscream asked.

Soundwave nodded, his visor flashing as it tried to identify Vector Prime, "Unknown Mech: Identify."

"My name is Vector Prime," the mech replied, "I am an Ancient like Starscream and the twins,"

"Twins are not Ancients. Suggestion: revise statement." Soundwave droned out. Vector Prime kept his curious gaze on Soundwave. He could deduce that although he wasn't speaking like the rest, he still understood perfectly by how Starscream was speaking casually to him and his responses. He wondered why he was speaking in that monotonous voice.

"Oh, but they are," Starscream said with a hint of smugness, "So now, I need your permission." Starscream lowered his head slightly to glare at Soundwave, and without looking away, he spoke to Sideswipe, "Get Ratchet,"

"Reasoning for permission: required." Soundwave asked in that same dull voice.

"Permission for a memory extraction, the same thing that was performed on me,"

"Reasoning: required." The mech didn't need to be told what the procedure was. He could perform one himself, except his own had sometimes undesirable outcomes.

"Because I have the feeling you are an Ancient as well," This had caught Soundwave's attention.

"What is a memory extraction?" Rumble asked, as he poked his head from within the confines of a subspace compartment in Soundwave's abdomen.

"It's a procedure that goes into the memory banks of someone and gets information. Some information that may or may not have been filed behind a silent memory," Starscream glared at Soundwave, "Unless someone is willing to go through the hell you put them through with your telepathy. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to go through that Pit."

By the time the explanation was done, Sideswipe came in with Ratchet, "You'd better have a really good excuse for dragging me here," the medic all but snarled as he was pushed none too gently into the room. The door closed swiftly behind them.

"It's Soundwave," Starscream looked up at the medic, who had turned his head to watch the door, "Soundwave is an ancient,"

"What?" Ratchet asked, his optics flying wide, "How can you be so sure?"

"Trust me," Starscream grinned, "it fits perfectly," he pointed to the symbiots, "And I will also require one on each of them,"

"WHAT?" Ratchet bellowed, "All _five_ of them?"

"Well, Soundwave was compiled of five other bots," Sunstreaker said, "We have reason to believe, they are the five."

"But Soundwave isn't compiled of them, their symbiots," Ratchet argued.

"You're right, he isn't," Starscream said with a snarky tone, "but they could still be with him in this way as symbiots since he no longer needed them to create his being."

"The plot thickens," Sunstreaker smirked as Ratchet gave a skeptical glare towards the Seeker, "As your medic, do you give permission for the memory procedure?" he turned his attention to the stoic mech in question.

"Permission: granted," Soundwave said. Sideswipe looked at Soundwave, and his look quickly became a stare. Sunstreaker, noticing the odd behavior, walked up and nudged his brother, "Hey, what are you staring at?"

Sideswipe continued to stare at the mech, "Have you ever noticed how much he looks _and_ acts like Piccolo?" Sunstreaker instantly furrowed his brows and thumped his brother on the head, a loud clang going throughout the room.

The clang was followed by a sudden question from Vector Prime, "Who or what is a Piccolo?" Sunstreaker looked to him and shook his head, as he dipped his head, mostly in embarrassment before he reached up and thwacked his brother again.

Sideswipe, after saying his peace, apparently wasn't finished, "We can only hope that reawakening him will get rid of that obnoxious drone," Sunstreaker facepalmed at his brother's audacity, "What?"

"I will get Optimus and Wheeljack," Ratchet sighed as he turned for the door, "be in there in about 20 minutes," he didn't even look back. He couldn't believe his life was getting so… weird. He was a medic! Not some sort of… Ancient mech hunter!

* * *

_Haha! Surprise! Come on, tell me you did not see **that** one coming? :P  
Next Chapter: The others get a look into Soundwave's past and find out some very interesting things :)  
Don't forget to review or vote! :D  
_

Song used: Indestructible by _Disturbed_


	10. Never Judge a Book by It's Cover

**A/N:** _Hope you all enjoy this chappy. Thank you all for your lovely reviews... They're appreciated :D I had a blast writing this chapter.  
Now, be prepared for a surprise from Soundwave. Who ever thought he would... Wait, I ain't gonna spoil it for you, go ahead and enjoy a rare moment of the stoic mech._

* * *

Ratchet groaned as the bunch walked into his medical bay. At this rate, he would have to expand the size of his medical bay, "All of you that are not directly needed, stand off to the side so that you're not in the way." He ordered, waving Soundwave to himself. He nodded to the mech, "Your assistance is appreciated,"

Soundwave nodded as Ratchet pointed to the berth, "Wheeljack and Optimus will be here shortly. Lay down there and as soon as they arrive, we will get right on it." Soundwave walked to the berth and lay down. The symbiots within him all peeking from him now. Ratchet growled as he saw them, "All of you, out!" his command was louder than usual. They all looked to Soundwave for confirmation at the same time. Soundwave nodded slightly and his body sparked in various places as they all climbed out. If one had known the movie Aliens, they would be seeing that right here, no pun intended as the symbiots moved out of Soundwave and to the other mechs to the side.

Optimus walked in with Wheeljack, "Soundwave?" Wheeljack asked, "What an unexpected… surprise."

Soundwave didn't move, "He's gonna get an extraction. I still don't know what that is," Rumble suddenly said, speaking for the mech.

"I will tell you afterwards, alright?" Starscream chided to the smaller bot in a playful manner as he reached down for them all to perch on his hands. Before he could even stand, they had all scuttled all over his body, ravage remaining in his hand. He knew they wanted to watch, being naturally worried about their host.

"Are you positive this is safe?" Vector Prime suddenly asked.

"The rest came out unscathed," Ratchet replied, a bit ruffled that the mech was questioning his abilities. Vector Prime gave him a look of dispute, "There can always be another way," He looked as Ratchet started hooking Soundwave to the machine. He watched as he tapped lightly at his chest and Soundwave complied by opening his spark chamber.

"It is necessary to hook their sparks like that?"

"To make sure their memories are in sync with their sparks it is," Ratchet replied, not looking away, "and there is no other way, unless you think undergoing his own procedure would benefit him the same way,"

"Why not?"

"Oh, I dunno," Ratchet retorted, more annoyed, "perhaps because he could offline himself? Nah, that wouldn't be a pertinent reason."

Vector Prime watched curiously as the machine slowly started up and how the screen came to life. He glanced over the words 'Idle' and then looked back towards the patient, still curious, yet still unnerved. He didn't want anything harming his kin. Soundwave's optics shuttered closed as his visor went black. Ratchet peered to Optimus then to Wheeljack and nodded towards them, he then nodded towards Starscream, "You will come and watch?"

"Of course! Nothing better to do!" Starscream replied in an almost cheery tone. He stepped forward before Vector Prime grabbed him by the shoulder. The grab made him halt, "Yes?" He asked, turning his head slightly.

"Starscream, are you sure you'll be alright?"

"You're being a worrybot; knock it off, would you?" Starscream shrugged his shoulder free and continued forward until he was at the foot of the berth, looking down on the Decepticon.

Ratchet fiddled with the controls as he began the extraction. No one was sure they wanted to see what went on inside the mind of this mech. He was well known for his brutality and his coldness. He was also one of the most effective mechs that existed. He may well have brought a lot of himself through his lives, more than most, and that was possibly why he was so quiet. Starscream watched the screen as it came up to the first memory.

**Memory Recall State – Red Planet**

At first, Ratchet had noticed a big anomaly in the telepath's HUD. It was wider than he had ever seen, spanning from one side of the face to the other, unlike Jazz' that was directly across his optics. This not only gave him more peripheral vision, but gave more room for information, which he required. He realized why Soundwave needed the visor all the time and he never removed it, because it was directly connected to his optics. It was like a second vision for him.

There were also anomalies in Soundwave's HUD and processor patterns he watched with interest. In the HUD it showed extensive information, especially about possible sound and radio waves. The information wasn't particularly in the way, but it did tell about any possible sounds being emitted on the planet on the left. To the right, it showed his regular sparkbeat and showed 4 others, smaller, below it. Ratchet assumed it was the symbiots sparkbeats. What bothered him the most, however, was how Soundwave's HUD also gave signals of everyone who was around him as he centered on them. He chalked this up to his telepathic abilities. How he would love to learn more about that ability. It was still unprecedented.

On the bottom, below everything there was a constant oscillator. He had no idea what this oscillator was reading and he would see it blip every once in a while, but otherwise it had a constant flow reading to it. What was this?

Beyond that, they saw what could only be considered around 20 to 30 Decepticons standing around. They saw Skywarp and Thundercracker not far from him and the rest. Starscream's jaw nearly unhinged at the slight of who was on the planet. They were huddled around, all speaking. Everyone could only assume it was before they were to come to Earth.

Soundwave twitched, which made Vector Prime nearly jump forward, "Listen, I am not sure this is such a good idea!" He said with slight assertion. This in itself was cause for a pause and Ratchet seethed, his land balling into a fist. Wheeljack and Optimus were even getting annoyed at him, "Vector, I assure you with my spark that he is fine!" Ratchet nearly whispered.

"I don't feel so comfortable with this,"

Sideswipe caught the look of the normally happy Engineer from the corner of his optic and his jaw dropped a little. He saw his optic twitch. That could never be good. Ever. Just then, Wheeljack turned around quickly, "If you want to, you can do it," he suddenly said, "I am sure with your expertise, that he won't get his memory erased!" The Engineer snarled as he stalked forward. Vector hadn't expected the hostility of the Engineer to come forward like he did and he backed up a step, now wondering if he had said something wrong.

Sideswipe groaned and watched as his brother dropped his head into his hand. Vector Prime backed into the wall as he searched an escape, Wheeljack took another threatening step towards him, "You know, Vector," the red twin suddenly stated, "I wouldn't want to be in your position."

"What do you mean?" Vector Prime asked, feeling cornered by the incoming CME.

"I don't know what's worse," the red twin replied thoughtfully.

"What do you mean worse?" Vector Prime glanced at Wheeljack then back to the twin, awaiting an explanation.

"Well, you have Ratchet," he pointed to said Medic who was giving the Guardian a death glare, "who throws medical tools with a strange accuracy only Primus could describe. And having a furious medic at your heels who throws with medical equipment after you is _bad_."

"Okay, so how could that get any worse?"

"Well," Sideswipe drawled sheepishly, "Having a furious Engineer at your heels throwing after you with things from his lab which can _explode_…" He watched the optic ridges of the guardian shoot up, "Yeah… I would classify _that_ as _worse_,"

"Noted,"

"Wheeljack!" Optimus scolded, "Stand down!" Wheeljack instantly deflated, "You'll do well to keep that trap of yours shut, Vector. You should learn to watch before getting diarrhea of the mouth," he turned around quickly and went back to his post. Ratchet was beyond surprised at Wheeljack's outburst. He hadn't seen him that mad very often.

Vector Prime felt extremely shy right now, but, gaining what dignity he had, he nodded, "Very well," he said, his voice never wavering. Optimus noticed the firm tone and could only hold respect for him. It wasn't every day that one could show as little fear or shyness like he had and still able to compose himself afterward.

"Move on," Starscream said, "I do have better things to do than stay in this bay with one who throws tools and one who throws explosions." He deadpanned.

Ratchet nodded as he turned back to the machine and un-paused it. They all watched the screen as the Decepticons continued to talk amongst each other; a few quarrels were to be had, but nothing that bad. Everyone in the room was trying to figure who all was on the planet, and who all could be outside still or who could still be on Cybertron. As Starscream made it sound, they would all need to band together for this upcoming danger.

The screen turned black and quickly recovered as it shown a new blue marble in Soundwave's view. It also showed how they were getting extremely close to the planet and how an orange beam shot past him and flew into space. So that was the weapon… Starscream growled. He looked to Ratchet, who didn't need to hear that Starscream was uncomfortable with this. He hit the button.

**Memory Recall State – Creation State**

Here, everyone would probably hold a whole new judgment over Soundwave, or who he was before he underwent the extraction. He showed him looking down at his hand as he cradled all of the symbiots there. The symbiots who were watching perked, "That… that's when we were sparked!" Rumble called out, pointing as he nearly fell off of Starscream's shoulder. The seeker put his hand up to catch the critter before he completely fell off as his optics stayed glued, as did everyone else.

"You know, no one knows how he sparked them either,"

"S-S-Soundwave's secret!" Frenzy chattered, nearly bouncing in excitement.

Twitch.

Then something miraculous happened on the screen. Soundwave's HUD started to flash and then went dim. It showed his chest open as he looked down at the ones in his hands that abruptly moved as if they knew what was going on. Errors came across the HUD as unknown systems in him started up on their own accord. It didn't say what was happening on the screen only that there was an unknown anomaly in his spark and body. As they watched, more errors ran up over his HUD and he had even thrown his head back once or twice. Ratchet identified it as pain. The medic watched with a curiosity that almost felt foreign to him. What was happening to Soundwave?

Soundwave's HUD flash and went off, then reset itself, and then came back online. Apparently Soundwave had been out of it during that time, because his HUD was completely blank except for what he was seeing. He was looking down again as from his spark came bolts of what looked like electricity and lightning until there was a perfect small spark emerging. For a few minutes it continued to spark and throw bolts of what appeared to be lightning as metal built around the small orb, completing ever so quickly into a Proto-form that fell into his waiting hand, twitching. There was a resounding gasp that went around the room. They had just witnessed Ravage's birth.

The HUD went blank again and a few moments later, it came back online. It showed that his Spark was weak, and functioning at 1/3 it's normal capacity. It also showed that his Energon reserves were low and his systems were overheating. His optics stayed glued on Ravage, giving read outs about the critter, telling him all information on him before he saw something dripping from his chest. That is when his chest plates closed and he reached for the substance, touching it with his fingers enough to bring it to his face to indentify it. His HUD went to analyze it immediately coming up with something that perhaps confused him at the time more than anyone in the room who currently watched the scene unfold.

UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE.

The screen stayed on this moment, and then he lifted the shivering sparkling in his other hand to his face. His optics met Ravage's blinking small orbs and it was an instant bond. His other hand went up to touch the new sparkling with such care, it belied his size. This moment let everyone see how much he truly cared about them. It was exactly how a creator should care for them, and they were truly touched that this cold mech had it in him. Starscream looked to Ratchet. No matter how curious, it was best to let him have some of his memories that didn't pertain to the subject at hand to himself. Ratchet understood. This mech was a very personal mech. He hit the button.

**Memory Recall State – Classified! – Access Denied.**

Well that was new. Somehow, however, Ratchet was assuming Soundwave had some control… somehow over the machine and what he was willing to show. He figured that would be the case before the mech even entered the room. He respected his wishes and moved on, searching another part.

**Memory Recall St-**

**Recall failed – try again?**

Ratchet tried again, confused.

**Memory Recalled State – Interrupted – Find your information! **

The strange words came across the screen and everyone gasped. Optimus looked at Ratchet, "What is this?"

"I think… that he is controlling which states we go through. He also is apparently controlling the system." He pressed the button as it suddenly started scrolling through memory recall states, refusing to show anything and then suddenly it came to the words Starscream was hoping to see even though deep down he seemed to know.

**WARNING: Unknown memory found – Firewalled.**

"Alright," Ratchet nodded towards Wheeljack, who had already moved to his position.

"What are they doing?" Vector Prime dared to ask.

Starscream glanced to him, "They must access his mind a special way or else the memory will be erased, he said as he nodded towards them both. Both mechs had reached for the panels over the ports. A first, they refused to move, but then, they opened. The medic and Engineer seemed apprehensive about how much control this mech truly had. But since he had allowed them in, he apparently knew they were not going to hurt him.

"On my mark, Wheeljack," Ratchet said as he connected his wire.

Wheeljack nodded, connecting his own, "3…2…1…Mark," And both of their optics flashed instead of going dim and then went dim. As soon as they had accessed and disabled the firewall, Soundwave jolted a couple of times and sparks flew out from the ports and visibly up the wires that belonged to the mechs beside him. Both got hit at the same time and flew backwards, hitting the walls behind each of them. Starscream and Optimus headed for them immediately. Both helped the other mechs up, "What the slag was that?!" Sideswipe nearly yelled.

"Backlash…" Ratchet said after a moment, shaking his head vigorously, "a really bad backlash,"

"Wow that was nasty. At least we know he's well protected. Damn," Wheeljack rubbed his wrist as the wire receded and he headed back toward the berth, looking up at the monitor, "Uh, Ratchet?"

Ratchet walked to his own spot, glancing up at the screen.

**WARNING: Silent Memory Firewall disabled**

There was no continue or anything. Green optics behind a red visor shuttered open. Everyone watched as the screen went dark and Soundwave reached up to his head and the panels closed as he disconnected himself from the machine, even pulling the connection from his spark, "That was most uncomfortable," He said. His voice had the same metallic tone, but he wasn't speaking like he a limited vocabulary. Everyone but Vector Prime gave him an astonished look.

"Soundwave, how did you come out of that?" Ratchet asked.

"You never really had control in the first place. I knew what you were looking for when that last warning came up," the Communications Specialist replied as he looked around.

"Soundwave Prime,"

"Prime?" Optimus, Ratchet and Wheeljack suddenly asked in unison.

Of course," Vector Prime said, "Me, Starscream Prime, Sunstreaker Prime, Sideswipe Prime, we are all Primes,"

Optimus gave an 'ah' nod; "Interesting," Still, the thought of the twins as Primes was not only confusing, but disturbing.

Soundwave stood completely looking to his symbiots and held out his hand. Ravage entered and he looked down at the cat like creature and moved his other hand over him. Before everyone's eyes, from his wrists appeared several wires as two of his snake like appendages unfurled and moved to the small creature and connected to him, "What are you doing?"

"Now that I know what I am looking for, I can find the same firewall with anyone," He replied as the wires snaked in a creepy way towards the cat and connected. Ravage didn't move as Soundwave opened his mind. It didn't take half as long. They all knew that he was communicating with them through an internal link or telepathy as Ravage responded to him. When he was finished, ravage lay down and went right into recharge. He reached out to Optimus and held the cat out for him. Optimus took him and held him to his chest as he watched Soundwave. Soundwave reached for the next and continued with this until five sets of hands were filled with sleeping symbiots, "I need my rest as well," he said, "bring them with me if you would, please," he headed for the door.

"Soundwave, I have a quick question,"

"Yes?" he asked turning his stoic gaze towards the medic.

"Would you… be able to explain your visor HUD with me when you get the time?"

Soundwave smiled under his faceplate, but to anyone else, he hadn't had any emotion. He nodded to the medic before nodding down the corridor, being followed by five mechs. When they reached his quarters, he reached for Laserbeak first and set him in a cubby in the wall and did the same with Buzzsaw in a second cubby. He reached for Rumble and set him in his own berth and did the same with Frenzy. When he was done he took Ravage in his hand and took him to the end of his berth and set him down to rest, "Thank you," he said gently.

Coming from Soundwave, those words were nonexistent. Everyone was speechless for a long moment, "You're welcome, Soundwave." Vector Prime said for them.

"And Sideswipe," Soundwave called, not even looking away from where he was setting Ravage. Said mech gave his attention to the one calling his name.

"If you ever refer to me as Piccolo again and I will personally set you on fire," Sideswipe's optics went wide in mock horror, "You don't mean that!"

"Try me," the telepath threatened with a well hidden smirk.

"Yeah…" Starscream drawled out, "You get your rest, Primus knows you'll need it," Soundwave nodded as they all went to exit the room and the door shut.

"That was weird," Sideswipe shook his head in amusement.

"What was weird?"

"He knows who Piccolo is!" the red warrior chuckled.

"Who's Piccolo?" Optimus asked. Sideswipe shook his head with his brother, "You don't want to know," he said as the pair turned, headed for their quarters.

"Do you think Soundwave will do that with all of the mechs? It would make things a lot faster!" Wheeljack said, still a little stunned at Soundwave's playful banter.

"We will ask him after he is well rested,"

"I wonder what caused him to speak like he had in Starscream's quarters," Vector Prime suddenly questioned.

"What do you mean?" the Autobot Commander asked.

"That strange, almost unintelligible drone."

"Ask him," Starscream shrugged, "I am going to go for a flight," as he turned for the main rec room as he searched out his trine.

Optimus shook his head as he headed for his office. The recent events with Soundwave had been, for lack of a better word, creepy. But then again, that mech was always creepy.

* * *

_Wasn't that just CUTE?! I thought so._

_Next chapter: "You're right! We _don't_ believe you!"_


	11. What Fools These Mortals Be

_The next installment. Enjoy! Don't forget to review and let me know how you like things thus far. Besides not a lot is going on, but that'll all pick up later, promise. _

* * *

The next day after Soundwave's ordeal, a jet was getting close to its destination. Terry watched the world under his feet. Well, more like under his jet. He had called the airport ahead of time and wanted the jet ready before he got there. It made better sense to fly, because the base was across the United States. He knew they were getting close when the ground below became more and more barren and shortly after the jet started it's decent. He felt a little unnerved at the thought of coming here, let alone unannounced.

When he saw a shadow coming over the jet's wing, it caught his attention quickly and he bent his head and looked around out the window as far as he could. He saw the underbelly of a black jet. Suddenly he heard the pilot over the intercom, "Sir, there appears to be three fighter jets flying _with_ us."

"It's fine, pilot, bring us in," He said as he saw the black jet move down and settled next to the jet, it's wingtip about 10 feet from the Learjet. The body of the jet seemed to wiggle in mid air, as if it was trying o tell the pilot something. Terry wasn't all too unfamiliar with this sort of aerial 'speech'. It was a request to leave.

"Unknown aircraft, you are flying in restricted Autobot air space, turn around and leave!" came a sudden voice over every speaker in the cabin.

Panicking slightly, he leaned forward to look out the other side window. A blue jet was wingtip to wingtip with the Learjet, "Sir?" the captain called out.

"Keep going," He insisted, "They won't hurt us,"

"But sir! There's another white jet in front of me, it's waving about erratically, if I read it right, it's saying to leave!"

"Ignore it and land,"

The jet continued down, and the Seekers never left it as it got closer to the ground and finally touched down, the three touching down with it in such a display, that it may have been very much impossible if these were ordinary jets. The pilot brought the plane to a stop and powered it down. The three jets had not left the side of it until the secretary had gone to open the hatch. All three of them moved away and then transformed, looking down at him confused and curious. The pilot also stepped out, his eyes going wide at the size of the creatures scrutinizing the secretary. He froze when their optics went to him. Starscream gave a smug look, "What are you doing here Mr. Secretary of Defense?" He asked.

Terry's eyes became wide. He knew the voice as Starscream's but the mech looked different. His color scheme was way different, "You're white,"

"You didn't answer my question," the Seeker's voice demanded.

"I came to speak to Optimus," The secretary tried not to show that he felt a little apprehensive about the situation he was now in. Thundercracker and Skywarp both gave him a skeptic glare while Starscream righted himself and turned to walk away without a word. The Secretary watched Starscream disappear into the building.

"Optimus," Starscream walked to his office, the door opening, "You have a visitor," He said gently.

"Who?"

"Well, when me and my wing mates went out for a flight, we didn't expect to bring him back with us, but he did not turn away at our request, it's the Secretary," he heard the groan come from his creator and walked off.

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker who had heard the commotion came into the main room and saw Starscream walking, "Optimus, everything alright?"

"Of course," The leader replied as he walked past them. Vector Prime turned when he heard the twins and saw the leader and stood up from his seat to follow. It was only natural to be curious. The twins also followed, curious.

When Optimus got outside, his optics sought out the Secretary, finding him standing beside the small jet and he walked forward. It bothered him that the man was here, especially since he was uninvited, "Secretary," He nodded.

Vector Prime walked out behind him and the Secretary's eyes went to him. His eccentric design screamed different and he raised a brow, "Who is that?"

Vector Prime hadn't been paying attention to the words, he only saw the little creature and leaned forward then down, kneeling down in front of him, "What is this thing?" he asked.

The Secretary bristled at being called a thing, "I am the Secretary of Defense," it said.

"It speaks," Vector Prime said, "I assume this is where you all obtained your strange tongue?"

Terry's eyes narrowed, "Who and_ what_ are you?" he pointed, a bit surprised this creature had no idea what he was.

"My name is Vector Prime, Warden of Space and Time, what are _you_?"

"I am a human," he said with a distinct air of annoyance, "the dominant species of the planet," he paused as his brain caught up with what Vector Prime had said, "Great! Not only do we have aliens here, but now we have guardians of space and time here too!" He said in mock delight, not completely believing the 'guardian of space and time' thing, "Wonderful," his voice took on a deadpan tone at the last note.

Just as he had said that, a foot stomped down beside him, making him jump and shy away, "Don't you dare mock him!" the man unfurled and saw it was Starscream's foot. Starscream noted with a smirk the pilot who peeped and charged for the jet, getting into it as fast as physically possible.

Optimus rumbled with annoyance, "Starscream, stop," he knelt down to the small shaking man known as the Secretary of Defense himself, "Might I ask why you are here?"

"I came to speak to you about the files you sent, Optimus,"

"Were they not what you requested?"

"They were fine until I saw Soundwave and Starscream's profiles. They both claimed classified information. I would like to know that information." A sarcastic 'Hah!' came from Starscream as the mech walked away a little.

"Because they are classified," Optimus said with annoyance.

"But don't you think at least I have a right to know?" The man asked. By now, his arrival had brought the attention of several other mechs. He noticed that some of them he hadn't seen yet. They were probably still in the files back in his office, "And I also wanted to voice my concern about Soundwave and his… abilities,"

"There is no concern to be had," Soundwave himself had walked out of the building, taking stance next to Thundercracker and looking down at the human. The Secretary was even more intimidated by that guy in person and he looked even more creepy, especially how what appeared to be thick cables seemed to move over his chassis like snakes.

Trying his best to compose himself, the secretary spoke again, "Well it is only fair to say that you are a Decepticon-"

"Was," he was interrupted by a mech he didn't know.

"-_were_ a Decepticon," the man corrected, "And that the abilities you have would be for a major concern for National Security, especially since some of it was considered classified,"

Soundwave, now a bit aggravated stepped forward and knelt down, "There is nothing to worry about. I have complete control over my abilities,"

"That isn't what I meant. It's just that I think that the government will be concerned, given your late alliance,"

"I have been here for a very long time and I have had no need to use my weapons or abilities against the humans, what makes you believe I will now, _human_?" The tone in his voice alone made the Secretary flinch. The Communications Specialist had a point.

Starscream elbowed Vector Prime, "Just imagine what problems they would have with you!" He nearly whispered, just loud enough for the human to hear.

"You're digging yourself a hole, Secretary," It was Sunstreaker who spoke this time, "I suggest you accept that you're not allowed to know everything about us,"

Terry's eyes darted back to Vector Prime, "I will also need a profile on him," he said, nearly ignoring the words.

"That will not be possible," Optimus suddenly said.

"You mean you refuse?"

"Yes. His whole being is classified as top secret," The secretary hiked a brow, "Then would you care to tell me off the record?" of course his interest was piqued.

Vector looked to Optimus, and then looked to Starscream who shrugged, "He'd never believe you anyways, sure, tell him," The smug look on the Seeker was almost too much to bear and his snicker was even worse.

"Very well," Vector Prime started, "I was born from living material of the very multi-verse itself, I was appointed the guardian of space and time by Primus, and I am uniquely attuned to its flow. Within my frame hums the subtle mathematics that governs all that is, from the spin of galaxies to the movement of sub-atomic particles. I possess the power to control, with some exertion, the flow of time, which also gives me that unique ability to wind it back and alter events.

"Thanks to my Temporal Mechanics Analyzer, I am able to observe all possible pasts, presents and futures within my sensor range, giving me the opportunity to select optimum courses of action. I wield the sword that I call Rhisling." He paused and reached up in front of the stunned man and pulled the weapon from behind his back, holding out for the human to see, "It is constructed from ethereal super-matter and shaped to an edge so sharp that it can slice open the fabric of reality, opening portals to anywhere in time, space, or other dimensions."

The man who was staring wide-eyed at the Ancient Cybertronian had even forgotten to breathe during this absolutely crazy explanation. When he resumed, he exhaled slowly, still stunned by the mass of information, his eyes still glued to Vector Prime, "I… I uh… um-" the man babbled stupidly until he regained his composure with a cough, "Yeah, sure… alright," He said, immediately considering this particular mech with the strange paint job weird, but downright out of his mind, "I want you to keep a leash on him," he pointed to the Ancient.

Some of the other bots around were now staring incredulously at the guardian. They couldn't believe what they had just heard. There was some explaining to do. One of them was going to say something until the man spoke again.

"The government will want to know about him also." His voice showed he was truly concerned for the other Autobots, "Once I show the files to the other branches, they are going to have… questions." It isn't like he was about to explain _that_ to his superiors.

"Then by all means, don't show them the files yet. There _isn't_ much to worry about, we will be leaving this planet soon enough," Starscream commented, "Now is there?" his tone turned almost threatening.

"Fair enough," the man sighed, "I will conceal the files until you have all departed," He wasn't about to argue with these machines. They were a lot bigger and he knew they could step on him, yet they would have the entire United States military on them if they did. It didn't prove to make him feel any more comfortable. He deduced that if the military were to attack, even with their small numbers, they could very well hold their own. Scary thought.

"So you flew all the way out here to ask me that?" Optimus asked.

"I did," Terry deflated, realizing his defeat in getting any answers, "sorry to have disturbed you all," He turned towards the plane, miffed that he had flown out here for nothing.

The crowd watched him get into his plane and heard the engines start, "Hey Ironhide?" Sideswipe suddenly turned to the black Weapons Specialist.

"What?" he asked gruffly.

"Do you think if we somehow managed to set the aft of that jet into your cannons you'd be able to fire it into the air?" he asked as he watched the Learjet turn around on the runway to taxi off.

"Shut up," he was about to stalk away, but then turned. He found a perfect opportunity to question all of the mechs here now. He wasn't about to pass this one up, "So…" he started, placing his hands on his hips, "What's been going on for the last few days?"

"What do you mean, Ironhide?"

"Don't play stupid with me," he growled in Starscream's direction, "all of us, even the ones working on the ship have noticed how popular the medical bay has become. And since when did Soundwave lose his annoying drone?" This time his optics went to said CCS.

"Yeah, tell us!" This time it was the entire crowd. Optimus looked to Vector Prime who shrugged and the rest, who did the same. Starscream pretended to keep his attention on the sound of the turbines of the jet, although he was listening to the conversation.

Wheeljack stepped out so he was in front of them all, "Well, I don't think you'd believe us if we did,"

Cliffjumper furrowed his optics skeptically, "Yes we will, whatever you have to say, we can handle it Wheeljack." he grinned, "Besides, we aren't going anywhere until you do,"

"Very well," Starscream suddenly stepped up beside Wheeljack, taking the limelight off of the engineer, "The twins and Soundwave are all Ancients as well,"

There was a very pregnant silence. Ironhide's optic twitched.

How could they possibly tell them this? It was most preposterous! It was bad enough to be shell-shocked by hearing Vector Prime say exactly who and what he was to the human. And for some strange reason, they partially believed it, but the twins? _Soundwave_? Things were going just a little too far with that one.

"You're right!" he suddenly yelled as he came out of his stupor from the story, "We _don't_ believe you!"

The crowd gave disbelieving looks to all of the ones standing in their own little ground as they started to disperse, shaking their heads and whispering between themselves. Soundwave distinctly heard one of them, "You know, they don't have to make slag up like that," he smirked behind his faceplate.

'_Just wait until you learn everything,'_

"Hah, now that's the joke of the century," Ironhide voiced.

"The twins? Ancient fairytales? What is the world coming to?" Cliffjumper headed for the hangar where the ship was being built, followed by about 3 other mechs.

Wheeljack looked to Starscream and shrugged, "Told you they'd never believe it,"

Vector Prime watched them leave with disappointment clear in his expression. Starscream was right. They weren't ready for a complete briefing on the situation. The time was getting close that they would have to, however.

"Would you believe it if I came to you and told you the same thing, 'Jack?" Starscream asked smugly to the Engineer.

"Nope," Wheeljack replied, watching the others disappear.

Suddenly Sideswipe backed up slightly, seeming a bit flighty. He had a plan, he always had a plan, _"-What are you doing?-" _He heard his brother through their comm.

"_-Watch this!-"_ He nodded towards Soundwave. Sunstreaker's optics diverted to the Communication specialist, wondering what his brother was up to.

"Hey Piccolo!" Sideswipe suddenly called, he looked prepared to bolt.

Soundwave, without even thinking and knowing what the name was, looked up, wondering who he was talking to. Big mistake. Sideswipe suddenly pointed and laughed, nearly losing his balance, "Priceless!"

Soundwave growled and tensed. Sideswipe saw the tense, "Oh slag!" He suddenly said as Soundwave's body began to move toward him. He dodged the grab intended for him and took off down the runway, arms flailing dramatically. Soundwave was hot on his tail, "Get your sorry aft back here you little worm!"

"Did he just call him a… _worm_?" Sunstreaker jerked a thumb at the retreating two.

"Mark that on the weirdness meter," Ratchet said with a serious tone as he watched the two, placing his hands on his hips.

"What's that?" Wheeljack asked, also watching the two, his optic ridges hiking when Sideswipe suddenly spun around and put his middle finger to the Communication Specialist and spun again to run.

"Soundwave being…_ playful_," with that, he chuckled and turned for the main building, shaking his head.

-

"This one is rarely at the base. I found out that he is usually helping humans at different hospitals; however I do not know which ones. His alternate mode is Blue Ford F-350 pickup converted Emergency Vehicle. I want him scouted out and watched with a satellite." The man pointed to a file sitting on his desk.

"He's harmless compared to some of the others,"

"Exactly,"

"Very well,"

"Oh, and Don?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Get me the Autobot liaison, Samuel Witwicky."

* * *

_Next Chapter: _ _"Does Wheeljack really expect us to believe that you and the twins are really Ancient fairytales?"_


	12. I See It, But I Don't Believe It

_Because when I get bored, the world suffers... Muahaha!!_

_*goes back to her little hidey-hole to write more*_

* * *

In space, the being was drawing closer. It wasn't as much as the feeling calling to him than it was the spark itself calling. He knew it would still be a while, but that didn't matter.

Soon revenge would be upon those who defied him.

-

"So, how much longer do you think this will take?" Optimus looked up at the incomplete hull of the enormous ship. Panels were missing in so many places, giving the ship a somewhat awkward appearance. This had been the first time he had actually came to check on it since its start. He was now scrutinizing it. He noted the sleek design was taking on a more Cybertronian design; however the earthen influences were also there.

Off to his left, a bunch of boxes sat, as did a bunch of flat screen televisions that varied in size from 24 inches to 80+ inches. He assumed these would make up the onboard computer, Wheeljack's current project. He knew this when he realized there was a mass amount of computer parts strewn over his lab earlier.

"Well, it would help if we had Energon to help convert the metal into something more useable, but working with what we have, it will still be a couple of weeks." Bumblebee said helpfully, also looking up at the giant.

Skywarp and Thundercracker both stood near. They had been contemplating Starscream for a while now, and finally they had decided to believe their Commander. They had come to speak to Vector Prime about it when they saw Bee, Optimus and Vector Prime speaking.

"Maybe Soundwave can help with the Energon infused metal?" Vector Prime stood and looked at the machine as well.

"How? I know he can manipulate Energon, but that is about it," Optimus replied. The Seekers listened to what Vector Prime had to say. They knew they would need to learn everything about their Commander in order to understand what all was going on, no matter how eccentric it sounded.

Vector Prime had no longer been hiding their story. Optimus was well aware of it when he had gone and told the human about whom and what he was. If someone happened to be in the room at the time, it was just that much better for him. He wouldn't have to explain it all later. Turned out there were a few mechs working on the ship, although Bumblebee was right beside Optimus. It was now that he decided to speak, "He has the ability to not only manipulate Energon, but he is the Guardian of Rarified Energon. This task gives him the ability to also fabricate different types of Energon from his own reserves. After awakening it, it may have also turned on the pumps that he used to work with the different types of Energon which ran freely through his lines,"

"Starscream never told me what Rarified Energon was,"

Vector Prime's arms dropped to his side in disbelief, "What? Rarified Energon is what helps run Primus! It was under your feet the entire time! It runs through the entire body of Cybertron and also what you might find in all sparks of femme Cybertronians, since it was also laced throughout the Allspark and is what helps to power the Allspark. Soundwave Prime was appointed to guard it because there is so little, found on very few… _planets_." Optimus did not miss the growl on the last word, nor the look that momentarily cross the Guardian's face.

"Why is it no one said anything about it?"

"Possibly he may have taken it to his core, to protect it further and to keep it out of the wrong hands," Vector said gently, his optics roaming around the ship, taking in every intricate detail.

"What you told that human," Bumblebee spoke up, "that's all true isn't it?"

"Yes, young one, it is," Vector Prime replied, "just as Wheeljack was telling the truth," Some reason when he looked down to the small bot, he felt that this one believed everything.

"So Soundwave really is an Ancient?" Bee asked, hopeful Vector would explain. He was curious about this. The curiousness began when Vector Prime had arrived in the first place. He started to think that what Starscream was telling held some truth to it.

"He is. As are the Twins. They were the first twins sparked. I really have no information as to why Primus created them, but they both received a purpose after the war,"

"What war, Vector?"

Vector Prime grimaced slightly, "Nothing you should concern yourself with at the moment," He looked back up at the ship, "I am going to go find Starscream and I will also ask Soundwave about his help,"

"Please do," Optimus suddenly spoke up. Vector Prime nodded to both of them before making his leave. Bee's optics followed the Prime until he disappeared, "For some reason I find myself believing his stories,"

"Why would he lie to us Bumblebee? Wasn't Starscream enough proof that there was more to our history that we were denied?"

"I didn't want to believe it at first. I guess it was just so farfetched it sounded too crazy to believe,"

"There will be a lot more to learn. We are leaving because Starscream fears something bad is coming here. He also says that Megatron will be a threat. Vector arriving only confirms his stories," Optimus' optics went back to the ship, "Vector also says that everyone will be briefed on everything soon,"

"What are they hiding?" Bee asked, "Why are they being so secretive. It's like they've created their own little clan in our group."

"They are in a league of their own, Bumblebee," Optimus turned when he heard footsteps behind him. He caught sight of the one making the noise, "Soundwave," he nodded.

"I heard you wanted my help with Energon," the Specialist replied with his own nod.

"Yes, Vector said that you may be able to help with reinforcing the hull and mechanics with Energon," Optimus nodded toward the ship.

"Soundwave?" Bumblebee suddenly called out.

Soundwave's visor went to the youngling, "Yes Bumblebee?"

"It's true isn't it?" he asked, looking down, "All that I heard, it's all true,"

"Very much so and there is so much more to learn." Soundwave replied.

"At least it explains your strange abilities with Energon. Ratchet often wondered why you had extra pumps and Energon refiners when he did those physicals," Optimus said with a hint of wanting to know more.

"Ah yes," Soundwave nodded, "The extra pumps were to help create Energon should the need arise. The refiners were used for the same thing only to refine the Energon to be used for different processes. I am probably the only one who can touch pure Rarified Energon anymore,"

"Hey Soundwave," Bumblebee asked, looking up to the mech who gave him his attention when he heard his name, "How comes your dialect changed?"

"Because when I worked under Megatron, he had managed to brainwash me down to my main functions in a way and made me his priest. I can't explain it all, and I am not sure when or how. That memory is gone. I had that drone since could remember at the time. But now I know it was Megatron," He said, coming to his own questioning how Megatron had that much power over him. He quickly shook it off, "Excuse me," he said gently, and headed for Perceptor, who was working on another panel to the ship. Optimus watched him walk off, realizing the mech had a lot more secrets than he was telling. Hell all of them seemed to have a cryptic air about them except the twins. They hadn't looked like they changed – much.

-

Starscream sat in his quarters, going over in his mind everything. So they had a few more of the Ancients, even if the twins weren't showing their past ways much. They were still acting like a pair of idiots at times, which didn't bother him. He glanced up at the door as it opened, seeing Vector Prime there, "Hello again," he said gently.

"Good evening – I believe the term is," Starscream nodded to him.

"For some reason, we will not be able to stop the Fallen. Right now he is of no threat to us, and there is nothing that could get him from his prison. What I don't understand is why." The Seeker said, watching the door close.

"Perhaps because we don't know who it is,"

"I know who he is. That's what bothers me the most." Starscream sat up slightly, "_Megatron_.I told you this before."

"Who exactly is Megatron?" Vector asked. Just because he was the guardian of space and time, didn't mean he knew everything. In fact, he was just that, the guardian.

"Megatron was Lord High Protector of Cybertron and the Allspark before the Autobots shot the Allspark into space to protect it when he felt he needed it. Sound familiar?"

"Yes, it sounds like The Fallen when we were fighting Unicron. He turned on us then. But I thought we trapped him with Unicron,"

"So did I, but when I went over my memory, I found it to be disturbingly similar, and going back on his history, it only made sense as to why he had been appointed that position. He would always be close to the Allspark. Perhaps it was The Fallen who came up with the Decepticons and not Megatron himself,"

"That doesn't make any sense,"

"It makes perfect sense," Starscream said sitting up straight, "perhaps it was deep programmed into his spark that he had this purpose, and waited for the right time to strike. He perhaps didn't know what drove him and he followed. It would also explain my needing to be by his side all the time, even working with the Decepticons,"

"Why would anyone follow the deranged Decepticons? Especially if all that they lived for was to kill and follow under Megatron's rule,"

Starscream shrugged, "Some were perhaps restless and joined with Megatron when he decided to rise up against Optimus Prime out of boredom," He looked away, "I cannot figure out how he will be a threat. His body is at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean,"

"There is no way to get him out of there – much less bring him back to life unless Unicron himself comes to Earth and resurrects him." Vector assured.

"But he will rise again," Starscream said in a warning tone as he blinked a few times, trying to figure this one out. He hadn't allowed his mind to go into too much detail about it, but now that he had someone who he could speak to about it, he could possibly get help in understanding the situation, "I am still trying to decide when to tell them everything,"

"I mentioned it should be before we leave, but the way things are going, no one will believe us until they see Unicron for themselves, or one of the viewings,"

"We don't need viewings anymore, remember? Soundwave can find the silent memories now."

-

Soundwave continued to help supply the Energon per Perceptor's request and also helped with reinforcing the hull of the ship, "Does Wheeljack really expect us to believe that you and the twins are really Ancient fairytales?" the scientist's voice asked.

"Why not? It would explain a few things, no?"

"But it's scientifically impossible."

"Improbable, perhaps… as for impossible," Soundwave paused and smirked behind his faceplate, "ask Vector Prime to show you,"

"I have tried going over scenarios in my processor trying to figure it out. Yes, you might have some… strange abilities, but it doesn't coincide with the past at all."

"Oh, it does, far more than you realize,"

"So you really believe you are one of them, then? You believe this story?"

"I cannot deny who and what I am, Perceptor. Sometimes science cannot answer questions to the truth that you see in front of you,"

"So you really think you're some sort of ancient being from Cybertron?" Perceptor let out a huff as he spread another rag full of the Energon over the next panel.

"It isn't what I think, it's what I know." Soundwave proceeded to help wipe up a different panel, "Take Vector for example, do you believe in what he had told the human?"

"I cannot answer that. I have yet to have proved the existence in which he claims to be guardian of."

"But yet here he is,"

"That begs the question as to how he got here. How _did_ he get into the base and scare the slag out of Prowl?"

"He walked through a tear in time and space. Do you not remember him speaking of his sword, Rhisling?"

"I remember, I just doubt it," Soundwave chuckled at him as he shook his head. Sometimes these guys were just way too much.

And that is when Ironhide had made his appearance from the innards of the Starship. He pulled himself free from it and walked up to Perceptor and Soundwave, "Ah, found a way to underpin the hull, I see,"

"It's simple," Soundwave explicated, "I refine the Energon specifically to be used as a coat over the panels. I will refine a different type of Energon for the lines and the engines of the ship once we get to it,"

Ironhide gave Soundwave a hiked optic ridge, "What, you got an endless supply of the stuff – how exactly do you refine it for different uses?"

"I create normal Energon and refine it for its needs." Soundwave replied without looking away, as he heard Ironhide snort, "Well that's a first, never heard of you doing that before," Perceptor looked up at Ironhide and swiped his hand sideways in front of his own neck, trying to tell the Weapon Specialist to stop while he was ahead. Ironhide didn't heed, "how?" he asked, giving a glare at Perceptor before looking back towards the Communications Specialist.

"When I was reawakened a few days ago, the pumps became active as well," Soundwave explained, still not looking away from his work, "because I am the Guardian of Rarified Energon, I can also manipulate regular Energon,"

"What the slag is Rarified Energon?" Ironhide suddenly asked, completely confused by the Communications Officer's admission.

"Have Vector explain it to you," He said in a no nonsense tone. Ironhide felt a bit taken aback by the tone and he huffed, "You're all a bunch of _freaks_," he threw his hands into the air as he turned to go back to his work.

Soundwave lifted his head slightly. Yes, Ironhide would be one of the mechs that would take seeing Unicron himself to believe what they were saying. He sighed and went back to helping Perceptor.

-

Meanwhile, inside the base Cliffjumper had hit a snag in his own work, "Hey Ratchet!" he walked into the empty, save for the medic, rec room. Apparently he had had enough of his bay for a while.

"Are you hurt?" Ratchet growled from his position at a table as he worked on something.

"Well," Cliffjumper suddenly stopped, "No, but…"

"But what?" Ratchet's aggravated voice rang out.

"Well, I need your help on something before I finish, I want to make sure it is correct," Ratchet turned his head and gave Cliffjumper the evil eye, but said nothing, in which Cliffjumper assumed to be a 'go ahead' and he pressed two fingers to his 'temple' and through projectors in his optics, showed Ratchet the schematics to a part of the bridge of the ship. Ratchet set down his tools, "I can't help you,"

"Why not?"

"I'm a doctor, not a Constructicon, Cliffjumper,"

"But I really need your help right now!" Cliffjumper proceeded to point out where he needed help, "See that? Right th-"

"I fix things, I don't build things." Ratchet replied, cutting the Minibot off with a growl, watching his projector shut down.

"But you always said-?"

Ratchet tilted his head, running a fake diagnostic over the Minibot, making him squeak in surprise, "Something hit you hard on the cranium I think, med bay, now, for a full and very painful physical examination," Ratchet pointed with mock anger.

At this, Cliffjumper deflated, "… I'll go ask Wheeljack,"

"I thought so," Ratchet turned back to his work without another word, a small smirk playing across his face.

-

Meanwhile, back in Starscream's quarters, the pair that stood there was still trying to figure out how Megatron was supposed to return. If they left Earth and got to Primus before Unicron had a chance to escape, he would go there instead of Earth, so how exactly was he going to resurrect his follower? Neither came up with anything, even with Vector's abilities, he was still limited and saw no rhyme or reason. Suddenly Vector's optics went wide and he let out a muffled cry as he reached for the orb in his chest. Starscream startled, "Vector? What happened?"

Vector about went to his knees, as if he had been shocked, "Unicron," He said roughly, "he's hitting the tear again," Starscream placed a hand on his shoulder. He knew there was nothing he could do. There was nothing anyone could do.

* * *

_Next Chapter: "Welcome to the _Ark_, boys,"_


	13. The Ark

**Disclaimer:** ... .... ah, screw it, who actually reads these, anyhows??? O.o

_Onto the next chapter of The Allspark Chronicles. Enjoy!_

* * *

About a week had gone by without incident, save for a few things being dropped or the twins being themselves. The ship was coming along nicely also. Most of the hull was finished and Wheeljack had been programming and installing computers all over it from tail to nose. In fact, nearly all of the ship itself was done. Starscream was admiring it from the nose. It resembled what the humans called an SR-71 Blackbird, except it was white. Blindingly white in fact. There was an embossed Autobot Emblem on the nose of the ship. He still couldn't get over the sheer size of it and wondered for a second where they had come up with the entire alloy to create it. It was huge, even by their own standards. They had erected the hangar to accommodate it and much, much more, making the hangar NASA sized.

"Soundwave, have you checked anyone else's mind for that silent memory?" Starscream walked up to the mech as he was setting down a barrel of the refined Energon he had already produced for whoever had been assigned to working on the panels that day.

"I haven't, yet, no," Soundwave replied, "I considered trying, but the way things are going, we may have to tie them down. Half of them either don't believe or do not want to believe that everything we have been telling is for real. It's getting a bit nerve wracking that we cannot seem to convince them,"

"I know what you mean," Starscream admitted, leaning up against the ship and folding his arms, "perhaps we have them all go to Ratchet's med bay and demand we try it,"

"The last they knew, my telepathy could kill them, I don't think they will be very… willing to try it now,"

"Then we tell them otherwise, do they not realize there is a change in you?"

"They reply to it as if it's a fluke or I hit my head,"

"When we all sit down for the meeting, which will be shortly after the ship is complete; we will have to convince them – _somehow_."

"That won't be an easy task,"

"Don't remind me,"

Optimus walked in shortly after he had said that, watching the two, "Is everything alright?" he asked, genuinely concerned. He had noticed the Ancients retreating to their quarters more often and had sought them out to make sure everyone was okay.

"Everything is fine if you consider the fact that no one believes us – save for Bumblebee – as alright." Starscream pushed himself off of the side of the ship. Optimus groaned inwardly.

"Starscream had come to ask me if I had gone through anyone else's mind in search for the silent memory, and after some consideration, I feel I would scare them more than anything," Soundwave spoke up.

"We need to find out – for sure – as soon as possible. There is still a considerable amount missing and time is running out."

"What do you mean?" Optimus asked, "Is that danger you spoke of getting nearer?"

Starscream winced, "All I can tell you is that Vector was attacked,"

"Attacked?!" Optimus hissed, "By whom?"

"Not by who… more like a _what_." Starscream corrected, "Since he is so in tune with the universe, he can feel when it is disrupted," He swore he was repeating a statement, but he wasn't sure. Things were so frazzled lately that sometimes it was hard to keep track.

"So where can we find the others?" Optimus inquired, "Apparently we will need them soon,"

"Well, Maccadam is out there somewhere, so mark him off the list. I know where a certain someone is also." Starscream grimaced at the thought, glancing at Soundwave who abruptly looked away. They both knew this particular one wouldn't be here to help.

"Can I have a list of the names of all we may or may not be looking for?" Optimus asked. Starscream nodded. He didn't feel any need to hide who was who from him – save The Fallen. He could know that The Fallen was one of them, but not who it was. Not until him and the others figured out how the slag he was going to be revived.

-

In the depths of space, the mech that had been sent to finding the missing mech was hurdling towards the Milky Way, having pinpointed the spark it was looking for down to this particular galaxy so far. By its own chronological timer, which had become active as soon as it entered this universe, it would still be a while before it got to the spark, but that was all worth it now.

-

There was a suddenly loud sound that came from the ship, as if someone had started up the propulsion engines causing Soundwave, Optimus and Starscream to startle. The sound then turned into a rumble and started to shake the entire hangar, causing Starscream to jump from it as it started to _move ­– _more specifically lift off the ground. The 8 anti-gravity engines under the ship itself whined until they hit a note which made everyone in the room cover their audio receptors except Soundwave. They kept getting louder and louder until the ship slowly started to lift off the ground and began hovering. There was no heat as the whine turned into a low drone and then became almost nonexistent. There was a loud clang in several places as the landing gear had been pulled into the ship and covered by the hull.

"What the _frag?!_" Starscream pulled his hands from his audio receptors and hissed, glaring at the ship.

Soundwave reached over when the ship started drifting their way, he put his hand up to the ship and it stopped drifting. The earth was literally spinning under the stationary ship. He shook his head, wondering why Wheeljack hadn't tied the ship down before engaging the anti-gravity system. He walked towards one small compartment on the side of the ship and opened it, in there was a chain and as he took it, he looked around for somewhere to hook it that wouldn't hurt the hull as the ship moved around on its own accord.

"Hey!" Wheeljack slid out onto the steps of the ship and stood there, looking around with a pleased expression on his face, "I think I got the computer up and running," he looked to the massive machine then to Optimus.

"Whatever gave you that brilliant idea, Wheeljack?" Soundwave groaned as he hooked the ship to the wall itself.

"Do you want to see it?" The engineer was practically bouncing as he looked to his leader hopefully.

"It won't explode while we are in space, will it?" Wheeljack heard Rumble's voice from somewhere between the hulls of the ship and glanced at the ship itself, knowing it was working on the electrical systems, "You're joking, right?" he deadpanned.

Optimus shook his head as Wheeljack waved him to follow. Both of the mechs disappeared into the main bay doors. It was the first time he had stepped foot onto the 2000 foot long ship. He was interested to see it, now that it could support weight without breaking from brittle parts that hadn't been finished.

When Optimus stepped onto the bridge, he was very impressed. The three windows in front were very large, about 15 foot themselves tall and 10 foot wide, giving them room to look around the front of the ship. There were computer consoles to the left and to the right and in front of the captain's seat were 2 other smaller stations, "I know it doesn't look like much, but," Wheeljack held up a finger, "watch this," he pressed a button and the computers came to life, all of their monitors flickering and went full on, each monitor centering on its own job functions.

"Teletraan One, bring me visuals of Earth's Moon onto the main window," Wheeljack commanded. A few seconds later, the window flickered and then in transparency, there was the moon, orbiting as it should be. It began showing specs of the moon like how far, it's circumference and other information.

"_**Satellite of Earth, Luna, more commonly known as the moon on first window,"**_

"It is voice commanded?" Optimus asked.

"Yes," Wheeljack said, "I call it Teletraan One. It has the computing power of one of us, actually, however, given it does not have a spark, it has no sentience," he pointed to the console to the front left of his leader, "That console controls the main engines." His finger moved to the other, "That one controls the weapons systems and the shields that will be installed – and yes, this monster will have all of our technology including the humans', fine tuned."

Optimus nodded as he watched the computer showing twin cannons on the monitor, showing the specifics to the cannons and then showed several different turrets and each specifics on the weapons that were already installed and that would be installed. The Autobot leader looked to the left side console on the wall, "What does this one do?"

"Diagnostics. One can run this entire ship from there also if something requires extra assistance. It has all of the main information to each bay and area, including down to each quarters of the others," the leader was very impressed.

"The other side deals with parts of the hull also and will also have information ready, but the best thing about it, is the computer itself runs the entire ship."

"Is that why it started hovering?" Optimus asked.

"Actually yes, as soon as I turned it on, it started up the anti-gravity system, which was automatic. See, this ship will never sit on the ground, only hover. There are six large chains that hold the ship still." Wheeljack supplied, turning slightly when he heard the sound of footsteps behind them, apparently someone else was interested as well. He went on to explain the rest, "These consoles are more to keep an optic on things. You tell the computer what to do, and it will do it. It will be online from here on out. One of the nice things about it is that it can pick up signals from as far as the nearest star, so we can tell if there is danger before we get there,"

"But won't the radio waves from other planets and stars interrupt it?"

"Not at all, it can distinguish between a natural radio wave and a deliberate one, sir,"

"What will we be using for the engines?" Optimus heard 'wow' from somewhere behind himself, but kept his attention on the miracle that had been built in this gigantic hangar.

"Well, those will be more complicated. I haven't onlined the engines systems yet, but it will be four high powered specially fueled Energon rocket systems. Each one with the propulsion power equal to 10 Cybertronian shuttles, but it will not harm the ship itself or anyone that are within 20 feet of the thrusters, given the amount of power that it puts out."

"How are you going to do this?"

"Well, after extensive talks with Soundwave over there," he pointed to said Mech that was walking to the main window, "we both came up with a way to make an engine that runs on specially refined energon alone. And the best part is when the energon is de-charged by use, it doesn't dissipate, but goes back through the system that has its own built refiner and circulates the energon, so technically, this ship will never run out of fuel,"

"Ingenious Wheeljack, truly ingenious!" Optimus gasped, "What speeds can it obtain?"

"Well, going over the schematics of the power output, we estimate that it can get speeds up to at least 5 human measured light years per Earth day while in deep space or between galaxies, making it the fastest and most efficient Cybertronian Starship ever created."

"I see," Optimus replied, eyeing the controls.

"Also, using Skywarp and Vector's abilities, I have enabled the ship to use what I call _Space Bridge_ technology. It will make getting to our galaxy faster than ever thought possible."

"All of that built on this planet. Sometimes I wonder where you come up with all of this, Wheeljack," Sunstreaker's voice suddenly cut in as he stepped up next to the pair.

"I get weapon systems!" he turned, his brother bouncing to the weapons console. Optimus put his hand to his forehead, "Ironhide will fight you to the death for that one, Sideswipe,"

"Welcome to The_ Ark_, boys," Wheeljack said proudly as he held his hands out.

* * *

_Next Chapter: "Nothing is _'all right'_ around here." Barricade had growled, his hands on his hips as he gave the Ancients a dubious glare, "Pit, it isn't even _wrong_. I don't even know _what_ to call it!"_

* * *


	14. It Doesn't Pay to Be a Liaison

_**A/N:** Are you ready for your brain to break? Good. Mine broke writing this one lol... Enjoy!_

_I am posting this kinda early because I am going on a trip tomorrow and won't be back till later._

_**Warnings:** Language  
_

* * *

The rec room was loud with voices. Not only talking amongst themselves, smashing the Ancients, but were also about the new ship. They would be ready to leave soon. Some were excited, and some were down about the idea. Bumblebee was especially down about it. It meant that he may never see Sam again, and even if Sam didn't miss his car, he really missed _his_ human.

Starscream had been engaged in conversation at a separate place in the room from the others in the room where neither could hear either's talking. With him were Soundwave, Vector Prime, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. He suddenly stopped talking, getting a feeling in his spark. He wasn't sure what was causing it at first. Soundwave watched his expression suddenly change, "Everything alright, Starscream?" Sunstreaker turned to the Seeker, knowing full well about his abilities of foresight.

"I – I am not sure, but something… something is coming," Starscream said in slight awe as he stared into nothing. Shortly he went back to the conversation which was about finding more Ancients – the topic of the century, deciding to keep that feeling around and try to pinpoint it.

"Well, at least we do not have to visit a human madhouse to find disordered minds around here," The Shock Trooper muttered as he came up behind Soundwave, "this base is the mental institution of the universe!" Barricade sneered, "I tell you one thing, _nothing_ is '_all right'_ around here," he continued to mutter, standing with his hands on his hips. He gave them all a dubious glare, "Hell, it isn't even _wrong_. I don't even know _what_ to call it,"

"What are you talking about, 'Cade?" Starscream looked up to look at the black and white ex-Decepticon from his seat next to the other.

"What do you mean 'what am I talking about'? I have been here since you came back," he pointed a finger at Starscream, who only looked at the finger before looking back at its owner, "So?"

"So? I want to believe this whole cockamamie idea, really. And by all means, I should – we all should, and especially the other Seekers should, but it's difficult to imagine you – especially – as some disciple of Primus,"

"Why is it so hard for others to believe us?" Starscream put a hand in the air, as if asking the ceiling, "There is a past you all don't know, we – the Ancients – know. Enough said. Just sit back and enjoy the ride,"

"Alright," Barricade folded his own arms, taking a seat with the small group, curiosity haven gotten the better of him, "hypothetically speaking, let's say I do believe you," he nodded towards Soundwave, "he is the what? – Guardian of Rarified Energon? – Which I have no idea what that is," Barricade raised an optic ridge as he then looked to Vector Prime, "and then there is this guy who is… the Guardian of _Space and Time_ – Hard enough to say that out loud, let alone believe it." The Shock Trooper scoffed and stared at the Seeker, "What does that make you? Make the twins?" Barricade then laughed, "And speaking of the twins, no one can say that with a straight face."

"I am a soothsayer of types." Starscream said nonchalantly, smirking at Barricade's reaction. Barricade just balked at the words, "You mean you're like what humans call psychic?"

"No, not exactly, but in a way, yes. I can foresee very short into time, and I can also remote view. However the remote viewing is somewhat beyond my control. I also have the ability to use telekinesis to a point, but like my other ability, it is only very short distances," Barricade seemed almost in awe, as if he wanted to believe that what the Seeker was saying was right.

"And the twins?" the Shock Trooper asked skeptically, eyeballing them with sideways glances. Said twins tilted their heads at him. They knew what they were, what they were able to do, although neither could use it except with each other. It was how they worked.

"Well," Starscream looked up and around, and then back to the Shock Trooper, "If I am correct, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker can use Quantum Entanglement – or n-" but was interrupted by a voice.

"And we can also-"

"Shut up," Starscream cut him off suddenly,

"Nix on the stupid!" Sunstreaker suddenly growled, hitting his brother on the helm with a loud clank.

"– as I was saying, Barricade – non-locality to a point." The Seeker gave a warning glare in Sideswipe's direction as he finished his sentence.

"Never heard of it," Barricade looked away slightly, then to the twins, wondering why Starscream had silenced the red twin like that.

Optimus, after having walked past the talking group stopped to listen. He could use an explanation to the twins, anyways, since twins were so much of a mystery anyways.

"Their ability would explain them perfectly, actually," Starscream said with a slightly calmed tone, "Imagine you and someone else is locked in separate rooms, and there is no way for you to communicate. You both have two coins, one for your right hand and one for the left. You both do a hundred coin flips, but each time you randomly decide whether to flip the coin in your right hand or your left hand." Starscream held out his hand for emphasis, "When you compare your list of answers to your friend, you notice something amazing. Your flips gave you exactly the same answers _except _when you both flipped with your left hand-" He stopped, watching the ex-Decepticon's look and facepalmed.

Everyone else wondered why he had stopped and looked at Barricade who gave Starscream a stupid look, which the Seeker had interpreted as 'I don't get it' and Starscream scoffed, "Oh for Primus's sake! Once two particles meet, they become a system. It is as if a long string is attached between them that can never break. They exist as one although they are two." Starscream described as best he could, even going as far as using his hands to elaborate. It wasn't that he considered the mech stupid by any means; just the 13 had a more detailed ability dealing with Quantum Mechanics – hence Vector Prime's abilities.

"Also, it's as if they can sit on the same teeter-totter seesaw. No matter how long the seesaw is, even if it is one million miles long, if one end is down the other end must be up, instantaneously."

"Y'know… That's kind of scary," Barricade shuddered. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker with the ability to bend things to their own want? Yes, very scary indeed, "Do they know they have it?" he pointed.

"Of course we do, moron," Sunstreaker scoffed, "but the ability is more passive. This also gives the understanding of us and how we function as one, even at a distance between us."

Optimus shook his head. Even _his own_ processor hurt after that... enlightenment. He turned on his heel and headed for his office, disappearing down the corridor.

-

In the middle of a city not far from the Autobot base, First Aid was on his way to bringing in two EMTs with an emergency. He had a girl in the back of him who had been hit by a car. He was moving fluidly through traffic, his lights going and sirens blaring as he reported to the nearest hospital her vitals and that he would be there within minutes. With his estimation, she would certainly live.

When he arrived, two more doctors had come out to help the EMTs get her out and there he sat, waiting for the next call for him to go to as he monitored the ambulance frequencies. Today did not have a good fate for him, however, and he hadn't seen the out of place flat bed tow truck sitting on the far end of the parking lot. He went about setting himself into recharge, his sensors still staying on the frequency, but his other systems going to their lowest power.

The Autobot's luck was really down since he hadn't even suspected the man walking out of the emergency room since he was dressed like any other EMT at the time. It had only taken a couple of seconds, but that was all it took when trying to steal one of Earth's most intelligent machines. The man walked up near First Aid and started past him before he hit the button on a very small weapon he'd been carrying in his hand. Although it was small, it had a radius of about 10 feet, so it didn't affect anything farther than that. No one would have noticed anything different. First Aid felt the hit and felt his spark go erratic, his lights went to life briefly from the loss of control of his own systems and then his spark and systems went into a deep stasis. The man continued by him, seeing the slight light from the ambulance, but no one took notice. He had hoped that the EMP was enough, and didn't kill the bastard, since he was only told what to do and the 'others' would take care of the rest. He disappeared into the lot of parked cars.

The tow truck that had been sitting off to the side was already headed to the blue truck. As the tow truck moved up and backed up to First Aid, the passenger got out to start hooking up the Ambulance to the chains and tow system. Also knowing that the truck probably hadn't had time to lock it's doors, he went to the driver's side and popped it open. His assumptions had been correct. Reaching in, he grabbed a hold of the shifter and forced the blue truck into neutral. The body of the ambulance moved backwards slightly until it hit the end of the line with the tow truck. The driver got out and went to the front of the ambulance and then to the tow cables, then proceeded to pull the ambulance onto the flat bed. When given a questionable look, he told a person unfamiliar with the truck that it had broken down and was needed to be taken out for repairs. The man only shrugged and continued on his way to the parking lot, not looking back.

The tow truck, once First Aid was chained down, took off and it took that for people in the Emergency Room to suddenly realize that their faithful ambulance was being hauled away.

"First Aid!" One doctor called out as he suddenly ran for the emergency doors, knowing the Autobot never just left, and especially never left on the back of a flat bed tow truck! The worst part of it was, they had no way to contact the Autobots to tell them that First Aid had gone missing.

-

In another remote area closer to Tranquility, Sam had been at the store with Mikaela. He hadn't noticed the two men following them. Hell, he really hadn't cared, assuming it had to be some kind of publicity people, looking to talk to him about the Autobots, so he ignored them completely, not even going as far as telling Mikaela about them. His mind was still on the Autobots leaving. He was still extremely hurt and upset about the ordeal, but wasn't about to go back to the base. He missed Bumblebee a lot a long with the rest of them, but pride won out every time. Mikaela and him had finished shopping and headed outside to the parking lot for their car, when they got near it, the two men who had been following them came up to them and stood there, "Something I can help you guys with?" Sam asked, reaching for the back door to the car and opening it, prepared to start loading it.

"Ah, yes," came a reply and they both moved their coats slightly, showing their hand guns in their holsters. Sam's eyes went wide as he looked at Mikaela in a warning glare, she had also turned to look at him with a 'now what' look.

How he wished Bumblebee was with them now, "Who are you and what do you want?"

"Actually we only want you, Sam, come with us and no one gets harmed. Am I understood?" they pointed to the black SUV parked not far from their own vehicle, "As for who we are, you can wait until we leave for that answer,"

Sam swallowed hard, "Me?" he pointed to himself and they nodded, "She can go?"

"Precisely," They both said and grabbed his arm, pulling slightly. He didn't want to bring attention to the situation so he walked with them casually. He didn't start panicking until he got into the SUV and looked out it's windshield to see First Aid sitting on the back of a tow truck.

"Shit!" he muttered to himself, watching as the tow truck started to leave as the SUV pulled up behind it.

Mikaela instantly got into their car and backed out of the lot, hitting the cart in her haste.

"So Samuel, I take it you know who is on the back of that truck?" Sam only gaped, staring, tears already in his face. What had happened? Why did these people have First Aid? And what had they planned to do with himself and the gentle Autobot.

"First Aid was rather easy to capture, you know. He is far too trusting of humans," the driver said.

"He had no reason to distrust humans," Sam spit bitterly, "until now, what have you done to him?"

"It was a low area EMP designed to disrupt his spark-" He watched the captured man blanch, "-oh, don't worry, we didn't kill him… we… knocked him out if you will."

Sam began to wonder to himself what kind of mistake he had really made leaving his friends.

If he hadn't, he would have had Bumblebee there with him instead of some junker.

If he hadn't, Bumblebee would have saved First Aid immediately, thus fixing the situation. Now… now he sighed deeply, angry at himself for his choices and angry at the people who now had him and First Aid and were taking them somewhere. If only he _hadn't_.

"Sick fuckers, what do you plan to use us for?" The man in the passenger seat suddenly spun around and with the butt of his gun, he hit Sam hard on the head, effectively knocking him out for the rest of the trip.

* * *

_Next Chapter: "You're either stupid or - no let me reiterate that statement - you're really, _really_ stupid. Do you have a death wish?"_


	15. Never Underestimate Vector Prime

**A/N**: _Stupid humans. Can they not leave well enough alone? Apparently not._

**Warnings:**_ Language  
_

* * *

Back at the base, peace was about to be violently disrupted by the sound of a car hurdling towards the building with great speed.

Ratchet had walked into the rec room, "Has anyone heard from First Aid? He usually checks in about now," His optics darted to each mech who shook their head no. A small 'hmm' came from the CMO. Perhaps First Aid had just gotten overly busy. He decided he would give him a little while longer. The occurrence was uncommon, but not unheard of.

Not long had passed when suddenly Mikaela's car shot into the building and came to a screaming halt, stopping at Ratchet's feet. She got out – more like fell out of the car, babbling and crying as her knees hit the hard concrete floor. The girl was hysterical, crying and babbling incoherently. Ratchet was on her quickly, trying to get her to calm down enough to explain what had happened. All he could understand was something about Sam and men in a parking lot.

She choked a little and tried to gain enough equanimity to explain and just before she started, Optimus came out of his office, "Starscream!" he called, running by them to the group who was still situated on the floor. Others in the room startled at the ordeal, jumping in their spots to look over at Starscream.

Ratchet turned his head and in haste picked Mikaela up, and started towards the group where Starscream sat, also worried about Optimus. When he got to the leader with the group, he came to a halt upon hearing Optimus frantically explaining what he had heard to the seeker.

"Starscream, I just got a call from Sam!" he quipped hurriedly, "He said that he and First Aid are being held hostage in a warehouse outside of the city. He said that First Aid looks like he's in bad shape and said they froze him with Liquid Nitrogen. They demanded Soundwave. Go with him to the warehouse." He pointed towards the door, "Find out what they want!"

Starscream's shock from hearing this dispersed quickly as he growled deeply within his chest, his armor flaring slightly as he got to his feet, "How dare those fucking squishies do this!" he screeched, his hands balling into fists. Soundwave had been sitting there with his symbiots in his hands looked to the leader, a bit confused why he had been brought up.

Thundercracker and Skywarp were already to their feet, looking to Starscream for direction.

The situation that had been going so well was suddenly shattered and Ratchet held Mikaela closer when she burst out crying again after hearing Optimus explain the situation.

How was this going to work? The humans, for some hellacious reason had captured Sam and First Aid. Why? What did they want with Soundwave? Why after all this time were they after the Cybertronians? It made no sense.

"If they try anything, I_ will_ defend," Starscream warned to Optimus, pointing at him, he then turned and nodded to Soundwave to follow him. He pointed to Thundercracker and Skywarp, "The both of you, follow from far behind." He then looked around, "We will need Vector,"

Said mech stood up as Starscream finished, "You, with me," he pointed to Vector Prime who nodded, "What's going on?"

"_Humans_," Starscream hissed and ran out the door, leaping and disappeared, Soundwave behind him and Vector Prime behind him as well. All three were then followed by the other Seekers.

-

He had been told to make the call, and so he did, since they threatened First Aid's life. Sam looked around at the size of the building he was in. Man did his head hurt and he felt really dizzy. Judging by the size of the warehouse that he now got a glimpse of since the phone call ordeal, he estimated that they could fit at least 5 mechs in here easily. It was tall enough to fit Megatron himself if they had wanted to.

"You won't ever get away with this!" Sam suddenly shouted from the seat where he was bound. Tears had already stained his face upon seeing what they had done to First Aid. Apparently he had tried to defend himself after he transformed and had marks on him as though he had been attacked with some kind of weapon. Apparently they had subdued him and then proceeded to freeze him violently with liquid nitrogen – that is when he woke up. It was the sounds. Those eerie sounds that Bumblebee had made so many years ago, they brought his from his stupor to see First Aid crying out for help in his own tongue.

"When we get Soundwave, you both are free to go," Another man said as he walked out of a room not far off, putting a hand on Sam's shoulder, making him flinch, "my name is James, by the way," He leaned in forward and looked to the blue mech that was frozen. 3 men were currently circling his body, 2 with clipboards, and the other with tools, "Did a great job didn't they?"

"What do you want with Soundwave?" Sam asked, ignoring the sadistic question. He knew Soundwave's abilities. At least he knew _some_ of them. What would they possibly want with him? They were playing with fire if they thought they would actually _get_ their hands on that mech. Even the fact they had First Aid didn't amount to much. First Aid wasn't even ¼ as dangerous at Soundwave.

"Why we want to know how he uses his abilities – Specifically his use of sound."

"Yeah, you just might get your chance," Sam mumbled, insinuating that the mech would use it against them.

"It seems your Autobot leader friend was more than happy to supply the Secretary of Defense with the abilities _and_ weapons of all of the NBEs including him."

"…What?"

"Well it was protocol. He had obliged, having nothing to hide, I assume," the man stepped closer, "And one of my men got the files. Such a shame. He should keep that kind of information to himself – you never know who else would find out."

"You have no idea what you're dealing with, man! He's a fucking Decepticon! He won't think twice about killing you for this shit! What makes you think you will actually catch him?!"

"We will figure out something, I am sure," he man's eyes went to the mirror and then back to Sam. He was smirking. What did he know that Sam did not?

"You're either stupid or – no, let me reiterate that statement, you're really, _really_ stupid. You got a fucking death wish?"

Just then they had heard the sound of jet engines and the sound of a transformation before the slamming of feet assaulted their ears. It was close enough to cause the ground under them to tremble. Sam's attention went to the side of the building, trying to see where and who had landed. It didn't take long. Perhaps the men had underestimated the Cybertronians.

…Or perhaps it was the fact that they hadn't known about Vector Prime.

Soundwave moved along the building to the front of it and stood there, waiting for the door to open. He hadn't used his hypersonic abilities because of Sam also being there. He listened intently to the humans inside, finding their locations and where Sam was, along with hunting for First Aid. When he had located them, he suddenly took a hold of the large doors and started prying them opened, "What do you filthy insects _want_?" he growled menacingly. Just as he asked that his large body sparked in 4 places and out flew 4 smaller bots, two hit the ground while stayed in the air. The man who was standing beside Sam jerked back when the smaller ones started for him and then turned, the only one that still headed towards him was on all fours, stalking and snarling, sounding more like a mechanical Cougar than anything else.

James looked up in awe but his awe was cut short when he saw the cat-like creature snap its powerful jaws at him, "Don't forget about its minions!" He suddenly cried out, pointing to the cat and backing up. The people that had been by First Aid suddenly dropped their tools and clipboards, causing the man who had identified himself as James to look over. All three of them were now on the ground, three smaller mechs on them. He looked back towards Soundwave. Mesmerized by how lines of his body snaked about him, moving in no particular order. For a second, he wondered what they were. In his mind, all he could think of was one thing.

What a beautiful creature.

Soundwave took a step forward, "They are _not_ minions," He rumbled darkly. The stoic face on him made him look even more ominous. He was becoming very unbeautiful very quickly. Ravage hissed from his position.

James' head turned quickly when he heard the distinct sound of other jet engines and the sound of large feet hitting the ground outside of the building. The man suddenly grinned sadistically. Even though he was facing down an NBE that was apparently more dangerous than most any other NBE, he couldn't help himself at the prospect of perhaps learning of the other jets abilities. So more had come to join the party? He had his weapon hidden behind the walls that would disable them all – and he knew it. He grinned when he saw 4 other mechs walk up behind Soundwave, not recognizing the 4th mech with the – was that a _sword_?

He turned quickly when he saw that Soundwave and the other three who had come around the building within range to the 'mirror' in the wall and he nodded to it. Suddenly there was nothing as 7 mechs tumbled over, being hit by the electromagnetic pulse that was well hidden behind the mirror. Even Soundwave wasn't immune to that thing, because he had it made to directly interfere with the electrical pulses of the sparks themselves. Something he had learned from information obtained about NBE-1. But he froze when he heard one move and became alarmed when he turned his head.

All but one fell.

The humans who had been under the smaller mechs, now freed themselves and pushed them off, scattering into the room where the mirror looked out, "That was _not_ in the job description!" one yelled, turning his head slightly to watch James' face go stark pale as one of the mechs that had been with Soundwave didn't fall.

Vector Prime growled then he suddenly smirked, his optics fixed on the man in front of him. He had pointedly ignored Sam for now, "Oh, wow. Now that is original." He growled as he stalked forward. The human began to panic. Sam still tried to wiggle free, confused by what had just happened. What had the humans done to cause all but this unknown mech to fall like that?

"Oh, I bet you're wondering who and what I am by now, huh?" Vector Prime headed for Sam, the man behind him pulling out his weapon and fired at the Ancient, emptying his clip and finding he did no damage whatsoever. Sam was looking in awe. He had never seen this guy before. Who the hell was he? He had no insignia anywhere on his body, "What the hell?" Sam whispered.

"But the – that el-electromagnetic pu-" James protested, looking around at all of the other Cybertronians who were now out of commission.

"-Doesn't work on me," Vector Prime finished for him with a menacing glare as he held his sword out in front of the man, inching it closer, "Now, I do not like to kill… And Optimus said I shouldn't… so why don't you let First Aid and the human go before I change my mind?" he asked coldly, turning the blade aggressively in front of the frightened human.

"_What_ the fuck _are_ you?" the man gasped, scared clear out of his mind as his eyes went to the blade of the weapon, which looked more like a diamond cut razor for the size of it. How could something so large be so finely cut?

"What am I?" Vector Prime mock asked, "I will be your worst nightmare if you don't free them right this instant," he said coolly, as if he had no emotion at all, thrusting Rhisling at the man threateningly. The man didn't so much as breathe.

"Was I not clear enough for you?" The mech rumbled, reaching out for Sam without looking away and running his fingers along his binds to set him free before stepping forward, his foot coming dangerously close to the human who had apparently been behind this whole operation. The man shied away, afraid for his life.

Sam wiggled his hands and legs free before jumping up and running away from the giant whom he had no name for and stopped next to a white Seeker, "S-Starscream?" he guessed, calling the mech as though he would answer him. He assumed it was Starscream, since his trine was here, "Dude, what the hell happened to them?"

"It was an Electromagnetic Pulse – You need to get out of here, Sam," Vector Prime suddenly called over his shoulder, "Back away!" he shooed with his free hand. Sam ran past Starscream and stopped near Thundercracker, who had been outside the building still.

Vector Prime reached out for First Aid and went to pull him but thought twice about it. He realized what he was covered in and sighed. Humans were absolutely cruel creatures. He was beginning to wonder why Optimus was so nuts about protecting them. So far, he had seen nothing but trouble with the species.

This would be no easy task, he knew. One wrong move and his armor would shatter. He suddenly reached down and picked up the human, letting him dangle from his fingers as he turned, his engines and turbines roaring to life, he brought the blade up near the human, "there's something I want to know, human,"

The man didn't answer, too afraid for his life, "I want to know why you wanted Soundwave Prime,"

_Soundwave Prime?_ Had Sam heard that correctly? Soundwave was no Prime! What the hell was this mech saying?

Again there were no words as the man looked to the face and then to the sword, then to the ground, which he was suspended quite high from.

"Answer me, or so help me Primus, I will not be held accountable for my actions. You mess with one of the ancients, be prepared to suffer dire consequences,"

"I – I was gonna find out – how – how he works! That – That's all, man, let me down!"

"Uh huh," Vector Prime clucked his glossa inside of his mouth with doubt, "you know, 'how he works' is just… I dunno… so ambiguous." The Guardian growled, James could now feel the heat coming from the engines of the creature, "Explain it to me," the deep voice demanded.

"We were going to – uh…" he stopped, unsure if he should explain to the monster that now held him.

"_GOING TO WHAT?!_" the mech suddenly shouted, shaking the man.

"We were going to study him like Sector Seven had studied NBE-1!" the man answered, in fear for his life.

"I see," was the only reply. Vector Prime considered a long moment about flinging the human across the warehouse, his blue optics flaring dangerously. He heard First Aid moan and looked at the mech, then without a second thought, he dropped the man. He heard the crunch but didn't make an attempt to look down when the man yelped. He knew it hadn't killed him – broken a few bones – but didn't kill him. He moved away, taking First Aid with him and then swung his blade heavily once, brought it up over his head and with a mumble of something in his native tongue, he swung hard downwards. Sam felt some sort of shockwave and looked over where the mech had swiped his huge weapon. His eyes went wide.

In the middle, where First Aid had been laying was now a gaping hole into nothingness. His jaw dropped as Vector Prime picked up First Aid and pushed him through as if he knew what he was doing and he then proceeded to do the same with the other mechs, pushing them through the rift until only he and Sam were left. He reached down for the man and picked him up gently, yet roughly and just before he stepped through himself, he turned to the man on the ground, "Let this be a warning to any other human who thinks it might be alright to mess with us," and he walked through. Sam felt instantly dizzy and blacked out, unable to comprehend what was happening around him as he passed through the rift. Apparently time/space warping was beyond the ability of the human mind to withstand.

-

Back at the base, Optimus turned when he had heard something weird. It was similar to the bang of Skywarp's warping, but then he felt a shockwave and put his arm up defensively over his face. Everyone else who was now standing in the hangar trying to figure out everything looked up when they heard it and stared when they saw it, they took a step backwards. It was a hole – a rift, yet something was coming through it. First it was First Aid which Ratchet was on instantly, seeing the body of him, having been frozen, then came through, still knocked out from the blast of the EMP, Soundwave, and then the trine of Seekers, all also still knocked out. They thought that was all of them until they saw 4 of Soundwave's Symbiots also pushed through. Lastly, Vector Prime stepped through. The black hole vanished. He saw the optics of everyone around, "What?"

Mikaela was in awe, as were some others. Vector Prime reached out with his hand to Optimus and handed Sam to him before looking around, "I highly doubt they will be bothering us again," he said as he sheathed his sword, looking down at the others.

"What happened to them?" Ratchet asked.

"An Electromagnetic Pulse," Vector Prime said gently, "It wasn't strong enough to kill them, only send them into a temporary stasis,"

"But… why weren't you harmed?" came a curious voice.

"Because I, unlike the lot of you, do not function on electro-mechanics fully. My spark is tuned differently – very hard to explain." He looked away, towards the offline mechs, then to Optimus, "I don't see why you protect the cretins," he suddenly said with a growl.

"Because, like it or not, freedom is the right of all sentience,"

"Apparently they don't seem to follow in your beliefs," with that, he abruptly left the room.

The others all turned to Optimus, "What was that?" they all asked.

"That was his use of what he had explained before. I hope that is enough proof to you all that he is who he says he is,"

* * *

_Next Chapter: "I want one!"_


	16. The Ark Is Not A Toy

**A/N:** _Success! After tons of reloads (Thank the heavens for 'Reload Every', a plugin for Firefox, I managed this! Hope you all enjoy! If you want to leave reviews, I bet if you use the reload button time and time again, you just might be able to :D And without further waiting, here is the next chapter in the Allspark Chronicles!_

* * *

Mikaela was looking up at Optimus, who was looking down at Sam in his hand. He then looked up sadly towards where Vector Prime had stalked off and then to his soldiers that were on the ground, "What happened out there?"

Ratchet did scans over all of them, stopping on First Aid again, "help me get him to the medical bay." He demanded. Ironhide and Prowl both helped life the mech and followed him, "The others will be fine, just perhaps a headache," and with that, he left.

Optimus sighed as he knelt down to Mikaela, "I'm sorry about this Mikaela," he said gently.

"It wasn't your fault that the world spawns assholes like that, Optimus, you couldn't have seen it coming,"

Optimus looked down when he felt movement in his hand and gave a deep rumble in his chest as Sam leaned up on his elbows to look around, "What the fuck just happened?"

"Vector just saved you," Optimus said. Sam felt disoriented, "But we were-" he looked around, realizing he was not only in Optimus' hand but he was back at the Autobot base, "we were outside of Tranquility, nowhere near here! How long was I out?"

"Not long, Vector used a warp gate," Optimus concluded, seeing that as the only possible explanation.

"Who the hell is Vector?" Sam pushed himself to a sitting position and looked about, first seeing the mechs on the ground, "And what happened to Starscream? Why is he white?"

"It's a long story Sam,"

"No, the long story is telling me how exactly a Cybertronian uses a 'warp gate'. That's like science fiction shit," Sam grumbled as he went to stand. Bumblebee had walked meekly up to Optimus and now looked at Sam, "S-Sam?" he asked quietly.

Sam looked over, "Bee," he said gently, hanging his head, "can you ever forgive me?" he asked, new tears starting down his face. Bumblebee reached out a finger gently and lifted the man's eyes to his own optics, "Sam," he said softly, "I could never _not_ forgive you."

"Where is First Aid? Is he alright?" Sam suddenly asked.

"Ratchet has him in the medical bay," Optimus said softly, "I believe he will be fine,"

Just then, like coming out of a dream, Starscream's optics onlined. He growled and moved slightly, finding himself splayed unceremoniously out on the concrete. He last remembered coming up behind Soundwave at the warehouse. His sensors peeked around him and he found himself in the company of all of the Autobots and ex-Decepticons. Slowly, he pushed himself up until he was kneeling. He looked around and found Skywarp, Thundercracker and Soundwave with his symbiots on the ground out cold, "Damn those humans! Damn them all!" he ground out, placing his hands on his knees as he stood up completely.

Sam turned to see Starscream standing and muttering to himself, "Starscream!" he called out. Said mech turned his head at the sound. Sam was alright, but where was First Aid? "Sam, you're ok," he noted.

"Yeah, that dude – Vector I think his name was – saved us all." At the name mentioned, Starscream looked up and around. He didn't see Vector Prime standing anywhere. Noises pulled him from looking for the mech more as he looked down to find Thundercracker and Skywarp both moving and moaning. Skywarp was the first to stand, "This is why I hate humans! This is why I sided with Megs on the idea that they were useless!" he growled. His growl was cut short when he saw the human in Optimus' hand and Optimus glaring at him dangerously, "Uh – did I say hate? I mean – yeah, what I meant was – Oh slag, I'm in trouble aren't I?"

Starscream stared at the bumbling idiot before his optics diverted to Thundercracker. He watched his stand and Thundercracker hadn't said a word, although there were a few choice words he would like to have said. Instead, he opted for Cybertronian griping, which got him a smack to the back of the head. He turned and snarled at the offender, only to shy away when Starscream was rounding for a second hit, "You guys suck," He growled, this time in English as he stood completely.

Just as he started to walk away, Vector Prime moved back into the room. He glared down at Sam, which made the man back further into Optimus and cling to the mech's leg, "Shit, he isn't gonna kill me or anything is he?" His eyes never left the strange mech.

"I'm not going to kill you. As far as I know, you hold high importance to the Autobots. Why would I kill you?"

"A look like that from someone your size makes our little minds wonder," Sam said, relaxing a bit. Mikaela was still staring at the Ancient mech, "S-so you're name's Vector?" she braved asking. The mech glanced at her, "Indeed, Vector Prime," he said, his voice softening.

"So you're a Prime too? I didn't know there was more than one Prime," Mikaela pointed out.

"Yeah," Sam suddenly said, standing up and walking off the hand, "On that note, why the hell did this Vector guy call Soundwave a Prime?"

Vector Prime looked at the human quizzically. Going off the fact that the man had heard him earlier, "Because he is one," It was a simple statement, one that Sam wanted to know more of, "Care to tell me?" he asked, "Or is everything still hush-hush?"

"Nothing is hush-hush anymore, Sam," Optimus spoke, Starscream coming closer, "The cat is out of the bag, per se – although barely anyone believes them,"

"Believes what?" Mikaela piped up, curious.

"That Starscream, Vector, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe and Soundwave are all Ancient Primes,"

"Uh huh," Sam gave a dismal glance towards Starscream, "Primes of what?" when he asked that, the can of worms was opened wide. Vector Prime leaned forward and offered a hand and Sam reluctantly stood on it and held on as Vector Prime stood straight, "You might wanna sit down for this one," Starscream uttered.

And thus gave way to hours of explanations and questions. The humans were totally engrossed in learning about Primus, Cybertron's real history and about the First Thirteen. The fact of two giant transforming planets was left out of the talk.

"So where is this ship you mentioned?" Sam suddenly asked, looking towards Starscream. The Seeker nodded, "This way," and headed out of the building. Sam's eyes went wide at the sheer size of the hangar and he and Mikaela gasped when they had entered, "Oh my fucking god!" He nearly yelled, "That thing his humongous!" he hadn't even noticed the ship wasn't sitting on the ground… yet.

"It's called the Ark," Wheeljack walked to the group, Frenzy in his hand. Frenzy twittered something and jumped down from the Engineer's hand and scuttled out, Sam and Mikaela's eyes following him until he vanished, "That is one really big space ship," Sam's eyes went back to the ship, "can I touch it?" he asked.

"Of course you can touch it, it's not like it's going to bite you," Wheeljack laughed.

Vector Prime lowered his hand to the ground and let the two humans go. As they approached the ship, Sam noticed the strange sound coming from it and that it wasn't touching the ground, "What's holding it up?" He asked, pressing his hand to it and noticing it moved.

"Anti-gravity engines below it. There are eight of them that keep it afloat."

"Wow, it moves so easily!" Mikaela pressed her palm to it as it moved again, "Yes, because it sits on those engines, it doesn't have anything to keep it stationary to the planet's ground, thus, it floats above the ground, letting the planet move under it. It is why we must keep it chained to something," Wheeljack walked up behind them, excited they were excited.

"You know," Sam said, looking to the mech, "Keep the details to a minimum," he said, "I understand that it's floating by anti-gravity. 'Nuff said." He nodded and walked to the door that was still open. He grinned and glanced at Mikaela who nodded. They were going in.

The sight of silver attacked their eyes as they made their ways up the steps and into the main corridor. Their eyes darted up and around, still trying to take in the sheer size of it. Wheeljack followed them slowly, watching to make sure they didn't get hurt.

"Where's the bridge?" Sam asked, feeling like he was suddenly thrust into a Star Trek movie. Wheeljack chuckled and pointed, "That way,"

Sam and Mikaela both bolted for the way Wheeljack had pointed, stopping to look in various rooms and living quarters on their way. When they both reached the helm of the ship, they both stopped suddenly in awe, "Holy shit!" Sam cried as he stared it down. He could hear hums and whirrs along with some clicking and beeping from various monitors, "I was about to start the final installation of the engines Energon lines," Wheeljack said helpfully.

"What's all the noise?" Mikaela asked, walking until she had to crane her neck to see the windows.

"That's Teletraan One, the onboard computer. This starship is the most up to date in all of Earth and Cybertron,"

"Teletraan One, huh?" Sam asked, "Is it like you guys?"

"Not entirely," Wheeljack supplied, "it is as smart as one of us, and can work as fast as us, but since it lacks a Spark, it is not sentient,"

"I want one!" Sam grinned.

Wheeljack chuckled again, "I need to get back to business, you two are more than welcome to walk around and look at it. Just don't press that button," he pointed to a red button with a white diamond on it. Abruptly the CME left and the humans were allowed to roam.

So why weren't they allowed to press that particular button? It looked harmless. Sam walked past and glanced at the console with the weapons on it. He knew specs by now, listening to the mechs talk about their own weapons and he smirked at what this machine was packing. Without even thinking, he called out, "Teletraan One, can you show me the space station?"

**_"International Space Station visible on main window – now."_** The computer said but it wasn't in English. Sam didn't understand it, but didn't need to – to know that it was Cybertronian.

"Voice command, I like!" Sam said, "Speak English, Teletraan One,"

_ **"Onboard language switched to English,"**_ both humans looked at each other then up at the window in surprise, There was a transparent window in window showing the Space Station. Words came up besides the window but they were all in Cybertronian, "Hey Teletraan One, can you change the written language to English as well?" Sam suddenly asked.

**_"Video Language now set to English,"_** next to the Space station was showing its orbit height, orbit speed, where it was by latitude and longitude, how big it was plus various other bits of information. Smart ship, that was for sure. They heard someone walking up behind them and turned to see Starscream, "So you guys are really leaving huh?"

Starscream didn't want to go there again. He remembered well how the man had reacted to the first time he had said so, "Yes," he answered quickly.

"I – we still want to go, you know. You guys are like our family. And you should know our want to help the mechs out. I imagine that it will be dangerous, and I don't even pretend to understand just how dangerous, but we want to go with you," Starscream nodded.

"Sam, it might be a possibility." Wheeljack's voice came, "It would not be hard to set up a filter for oxygen for you all on the ship. It can run on Energon like the engines. But the air quality of Cybertron is questionable, and you may have to remain on the ship until something is figured out."

"But Wheeljack, the danger!" Starscream turned, wondering what had gotten into the Engineer.

Wheeljack waved him off, "Forget about it, Starscream. They are both apparently well aware of the dangers there, and I wouldn't deny them the chance to see our world." The engineer smiled.

"Hmm," Starscream looked down, then to Wheeljack, "you know, let me go talk to Optimus and to Vector about it. I would really hate to leave them behind and there is no way of knowing when or even if we would ever return." Both humans about jumped with joy. They may be able to go! It was even more exciting.

"It won't take but a couple of hours to install an air system," Wheeljack confirmed, "Let me know right away so me and Soundwave can get working on one. Primus knows there's plenty of place for installation, and the symbiots will help," he wiped his hands together, headed for the engine room again. This time Mikaela was hot on his tail, catching up to him. Wheeljack heard her and stopped, turning, "Headed my way?"

"Yeah, I would like to see the engine,"

"Sure thing," he put his hand down for the woman to climb on and continued onward to his destination.

* * *

_Next Chapter: "But the ship hasn't exploded yet,"_


	17. A Little Insight

**A/N**: _And after all that crap with (What happened anyway?) I can post normally once again! Enjoy! This is the longest chapter yet lol_

* * *

Two days had gone by. Two days for Sam to wait for Optimus to make up his mind. He had taken a vote, and even though how dangerous it was, the humans had won. He stared at the door to his office. He would have to deal with the consequences of these actions, whether they turned out to be the right ones or not. And that wasn't the only thing going through his mind. Starscream had given him a data pad that had the name and function of all of the 13. Well, all but one. The Fallen was marked down as unspecified. Soundwave had also spoken to him about memory extractions, and he left it up to the bots themselves if they wanted to go through with it on the promise that it wouldn't kill them. So far, no one had stepped forward and Starscream had no reason to suspect anyone else either. It seemed things were piling up for the Autobot Commander. Plus, if that hadn't been enough, they were getting ready for liftoff as well. It was spoken about a day ago that the ship was completely done.

He was now facing one of the most powerful things he had ever done in his life. Sure, being Prime meant a lot of decisions and a lot of weirdness, but all in all, this took the cake. He could not deny what was happening to his youngling in front of his very optics and learning more about why he was being so strange only comforted him… slightly. He was still curious who that mech had been that he felt he recognized in the viewings. He still hadn't mentioned it to anyone, and he wondered silently if he should before they left, but he didn't – as if something told him not to.

He was afraid for the danger he was putting his people in. They were going back to their desolate home in the hope that Starscream was right and that not all was lost when the Allspark had been destroyed. If they could rectify it, then fantastic, but at what cost? Who would be hurt or possibly killed from this endeavor? One could only stir on that for so long. If all was for naught, he could only blame himself for deciding they were going perhaps to their deaths. This new war could end either way, and since war only favors the ready, he would make sure his men were prepared, even if it took all of the time until they got to Cybertron to believe what they were being told and to accept that the past was coming back for another round. What that meant, he couldn't be entirely sure.

He also considered Starscream's aversion about Megatron. It bothered him that Starscream spoke nothing more about it since Vector Prime had arrived. He knew the two were still speaking about it behind closed doors, but they would not tell him about it. It still made little sense, since Megatron was still very much in the trench off the coast of Canada 27 thousand feet below sea level. Even though the humans were wrong about the crushing of the waters, it was still bitter cold down there and he even considered the chance of Megatron coming up out of there and even less that he would somehow come back to life. Perhaps it was redirection on Starscream's part.

Optimus grudgingly stood up from his seat in his office and headed for the door, which hissed opened. Down the halls others were moving, mostly getting their items and bringing them to their respective quarters in the Ark. He started for the rec room.

It hadn't taken the leader to get there very long and he found Mikaela and Sam relaxing on one of the tables strewn about the room talking with a few of the off-duty Autobots, "Hello you two." he spoke with uneasiness in his voice. Both humans, upon hearing him sat straight up. They had been waiting for him to come and give them an answer to their request.

"After careful consideration, even though it may or not be the right course of action, I have decided to allow you both to go," Both humans' faces lit up like children on Christmas. He gave them a soft smile, hoping inwardly that he hadn't doomed them, "I would like you both to go and get your effects and I will help you later with food and such, and I will let Captain Lennox know. I know he is not able to go."

Both humans looked for their best way down and then, when Optimus realized they were too high up, he reached out and lent them a hand down. He hadn't even stopped at the ground before they both bolted for the hangar where Bumblebee had been. He watched them go, the smile broadening slightly at their happiness.

The humans made their way to the scout, calling his name in excitement as they did so. Bee turned with a smile. He knew by their excitement what Optimus' answer was and he set his items down, "Then to your house?"

Mikaela was still breathing heavily from the run, "Yes, yes, let's go!" Sam jumped. Bumblebee transformed into his Camaro mode and let the humans in. Just as Sam had shut his door, the Camaro tore out of the base. Starscream watched them leave from around the side of the ship. He was in a way happy, yet worried. He knew what was coming. Vector Prime hadn't been much help, saying yes or no to the matter, leaving it up to Optimus himself to decide whether they should go. The guardian also knew that they were going to be in a fight that the one for the Allspark had paled in comparison to. He knew it was one of their jobs to tell them the exact truth as to what was going on, and secretly hoped that they could keep a really big secret. He frowned, hoping they could.

Along those lines, he considered what was going to go down once Unicron actually had gotten to Primus. He knew the previous fight had taken them to another part of the entire galaxy. Since the fight was so large, it destroyed a lot, including planets and stars of different solar systems. Hopefully the fight wouldn't escalate that high, but he felt otherwise. When it came to clash of the titans, which meant every word when comparing a battle of that size to any he had ever read or seen. He wasn't positive if the humans would be safe or not. In fact, he was afraid for them. They were so tiny and would be in the fray, no doubt. It isn't like they could hide them on Primus. Unicron would sense them, he didn't doubt and would probably also figure out how fragile they really were and would aim for them. Starscream knew deep in his spark that he had to protect them and also hoped that he wouldn't stray from his job when the time came to fight the giant.

Meanwhile, Barricade had been keeping a close optic on the ones who called themselves Primes. He was in fact, becoming more and more convinced that they really were some ancient beings resurrected into these modern day mechs – save for the old timer, who had proved to everyone when he brought Sam back that he could manipulate time and space. He surely didn't want their roles. In fact, he pitied them. He thought back to when Starscream had been reborn. It was a time that he laughed at. That little Seeker took the sparks and hearts of everyone on the base, had grown into a fine youngling and was now suddenly wiser than his age. He shook his head as he considered what had become of the once – as he knew – fearless and savage Decepticon. He respected the now Autobot much more than he had ever respected him as a Decepticon.

Wheeljack was sitting in one of the chairs on the bridge of the Ark. He was finalizing the programming on Teletraan One, giving it trajectories and where it was going, plus any other tidbit of information. He had heard the humans cheer and smiled, knowing he had already installed the Energon-Oxygen system. Was there anything that Soundwave could not refine Energon to work with? The possibilities were endless! He continued to fiddle with the computer, commanding certain things with his voice and asking various bits of information to make sure it had no quirks that would suddenly show itself on the trip or back on Cybertron, because until they could decide on the atmosphere of Cybertron, the humans would have to remain aboard the Ark. While he worked, he was thinking to when those extractions had started, especially with Starscream. He hadn't expected this to blow up more than one of his inventions, but it had. It was far more important that this ship get them to Cybertron so they could fulfill their duties, whatever those duties were, he figured they weren't telling everything and that was fine with him.

Soundwave had been sitting in his new quarters with all five of his used to be combiners. Thinking deeply, he was considering everything since he had landed on this planet and all the times before hand. Granted, Megatron had brainwashed him, but now he was free… Free to remember, free to be. Once he was awoken, he got the flood of files himself, but was more efficient at deciding what was what, and that is why he never faltered. When he woke his symbiots, he was happy to know that they would take their place by his side, even if they weren't combiners anymore, they had his back, just as he had theirs. It was a relationship that he couldn't fully explain and no one else could understand, and that was fine with him. Currently, he was using his telepathy to speak to them, comfort them, and tell them that they would in fact probably be going up against Unicron again – something none of them were looking forward to. He assured them that he would do everything in his power to protect them. They all knew what the battle would entail, and even though they were afraid, they were obligated to do the task. He softly ran a finger down the back of each one, reassuring them that all would be alright.

Skywarp and Thundercracker never faltered from their places beside Starscream, no matter how much others sneered at them for believing the Commander. Things were becoming increasingly difficult to ignore, however, and both of them were becoming more and more accustomed and accepting to what the Seeker Commander was telling as truth. Both of them had helped to raise him the second time he was born. They were there through it all, and were proud to have taken care of him. They both knew the youngling had no reason to stray the group on Earth, and there had to have been a damned good reason to be going back to Cybertron – something both of them were happy about. They would allow the now Autobot to lead them even if it was blindly. They trusted his judgment completely. They would stick by his side, no matter what he came up against and protect him in the name of Seekers. Both of them knew that things would go down on Cybertron about him when they ran into the other trine of Seekers and both of them were well ready to defend Starscream, even if it meant violently. They respected Starscream more now than they ever had while they were with the Decepticons, and Starscream knew it. The white Seeker never took advantage of it, nor did he ignore them, in fact it only brought the three closer.

Ratchet wondered while he sat in his old medical bay about who all he and First Aid would be saving back on Cybertron. He had spoken to First Aid about what had been found out, since the Autobot seldom had returned, he was in the dark about practically the whole thing. Ratchet found it amusing that he accepted what had happened easily and believed what Ratchet told him about this different history and that the very mechs who had fought for them before were walking amongst them. No matter what would happen once they lift off, they both knew that they would have their hands full if there was Pit on Cybertron. First Aid was well prepared to take on the challenge and both of them hoped that there were more medics left on Cybertron. Primus knew they would need it. He watched towards his bay doors in wonder. How far things had come and where they were going. He would protect his friends and all those around him with his life, even if he was not a fighter unless he had to be, he would do his damnedest.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were always all over, neither completely still since their minds properly sorted through their memories and they were free from that. They both remembered well what they had gone up against before. They both also considered Megatron. Even though they were not entirely sure how The Fallen would return, neither could actually deny it was possible. After you see two planets transform and fight, well… anything is possible in their books and they knew to be prepared for anything. Both of them accepted their old roles and also accepted their new ones as the ever loved and ever hated twins of terror. They had an image to upkeep, even in Maccadam believed them to be bad luck, they had helped in trapping Unicron, so how could they possibly be that bad? Perhaps it was the tab. They had a really large tab going at the Oil House. They were not looking forward to Maccadam seeing them again. Both of the brothers figured that even though the ominous battle was coming, they would do what they could to help keep the spirits high on everyone else. It was as if it was their nature, and Sunstreaker knew they would always have comedy relief as long as they had Sideswipe.

Ironhide, in all of his disbelieving gruffness, was the one who still didn't trust what any of the supposed ancient were talking about. It just sounded too outlandish to believe, especially when it concerned the twins. If Primus had put those two in charge on anything, then by all means, Primus must have had a few screws loose. He did, however consider about Starscream. That eccentric bot had been the epitome of weird since he was first re-sparked. He was there, one of the first mechs to see him and hold him – even before Optimus himself. He was with him since he'd grown up a second time. It was hard not to believe him and even found himself considering that perhaps Starscream was right, but he wouldn't allow himself to change his mind. The idea of what Vector Prime did when he saved all of the mechs and Sam crossed his mind. He couldn't deny what he saw, however unbelievable. He decided that if he was going into some sort of battle back on Cybertron, he couldn't allow something as absurd as what he was being told to affect his mind. He had to be totally focused on the fight that he was fully prepared to take on.

Vector Prime was fully prepared and knew well what was happening. He felt the painful hits to the disruption to the rip that had been torn every time Unicron hit it, attacked it and caused it to rip further. He normally did not complain about the pain, telling those who saw him suffer that it was an old complaint from his previous battles and that was what she wrote. The other Ancients knew well why he was suffering and wished that they could do something, but the block that had been erected by Unicron made it impossible if the distance hadn't been enough. The Guardian was still trying to convince those that would not listen about a big battle and who they were, and although he had proven that he could manipulate at least space, to some, it apparently wasn't enough to prove that he knew something more than they had and that his stories were as bizarre as his paint scheme. He had only hoped he could drill it into them by the time Unicron got free. He hoped that there was enough time.

Prowl had been open minded, sure. He was open minded about Starscream when he was reborn, for Primus' sake. He learned to accept that things happen for whatever reason. His logic went completely out the window when Vector Prime had appeared in front of him through a rift of nothingness. He had no choice to believe that mech that what he was telling was the truth – to a point. He allowed himself to believe that the mech could manipulate space and time, however when it comes to believing that the other mechs around the base were walking myths was a bit to accept. It was completely illogical for the twins of all of them to be some sort of twins sparked by Primus. Hell, to him not only was it illogical, it was downright stupid. He wouldn't believe it. Now they were preparing to leave Earth, and he was fine with that. If there was a battle to be had, then by all means, he would join the fray and protect everyone.

-

"I'm taking the ship for a test drive," called Wheeljack's voice over the ships outer intercom. Anyone who wishes to go along is more than welcome to. I am putting full control to the ship, so it doesn't require a crew to fly."

Everyone had heard Wheeljack say that and no one wanted to go except Soundwave, who wanted to make sure the engines and the rest of the systems ran fine on his Energon. He ushered the symbiots out of the ship as he got out himself and began unchaining the Ark from its confines. The ship started to drift once more, but this time Wheeljack had already told it how to compensate for the drifting and it sat perfectly in tune with the planet it hovered on. Soundwave made his way back to the ship and pressed the button as the hatch closed, hissing and locking in more than one place. He glanced out a window to everyone who was around before he walked to the bridge, "Where are we going?"

"Jupiter!" Wheeljack suddenly bounced.

"Are you sure that we need to go so far?" Soundwave then remembered the plasma cannons, and voiced his worry, "The plasma cannons, Wheeljack. We forgot about them,"

"Oh!" Wheeljack out up a finger, "Teletraan, disable the plasma cannons at that particular plant,"

"_**Cannons disabled,"**_ the ship droned out. Soundwave hiked his optic ridges, "Thought of everything, didn't you?"

Wheeljack nodded, "Alright, Teletraan One, take us up."

_Friction lock - set.  
Mixture - rich  
Propellers - fully forward  
Flaps - set - 10 degrees  
Engine gauges and suction - check  
Mixture set to maximum percent - recheck  
Flight instruments...  
Altimeters - check both  
(garbled word) - on  
Navigation lights - on  
Strobes - on  
(to tower): confirm 3-8-echo ready for departure  
(tower): hello again, this is now 129.4  
(to tower): 129.4. its to go.  
(tower): you may commence your takeoff, winds over 10 knots.  
(to tower): 3-8-echo  
Easy on the brakes. Take it easy. Its gonna roll this time.  
Just hand the power gradually, and it..._

The ship began to rumble as it's thrusters along its body started to move it out the door gently. Wheeljack was thankful for its intelligence. It knew to go out of the hangar before going up. He watched as the mechs around the ship backed up for it as it moved forward, it's entire body gleaming in the sunlight as it saw outside for the first time since it had been created, "Ow, my optics!" Sideswipe cried and ran away from the ship in mock hysterics.

"_**Take-off sequence initialized, preparing thrusters for earth gravity, navigations systems ready,"**_ the ship said as the body started to tremble slightly. The engines started to grow in power, but how it remained to move ever so gently, only the ones inside would know, as the engines pointed downwards slightly, the flaps on the wings moving upwards for takeoff. It continued to move gently as if gliding on a pocket of air until it was well away from the buildings and onto the tarmac before suddenly the aft of the ship burst to life and it lifted a little higher.

Others watched from the sidelines, still wondering to themselves how the ship was still mostly stationary, even though it was sitting on anti-gravity thrusters below it.

"_**Secondary boosters active, preparing for flight,"**_

Wheeljack and Soundwave both sat down at that sound. If the simulator was correct, this ship would be gone within seconds, being able to reach speeds for flight in mere milliseconds.

"_**Engines running at 100 percent efficiency, no anomalies. All systems ready for takeoff. Takeoff commencing in 3… 2… 1."**_ Then there was nothing but the feeling of a slight push backwards as the ship accelerated and left the ground, leaving everyone dumbstruck who was on the ground.

"well that went well," Sideswipe commented as the ship disappeared into he sky.

"They just took off, Sides," Sunstreaker growled.

"But the ship hasn't exploded yet,"

_THUNK._

"Hey!" Sideswipe called, grabbing the back of his helm that his brother had hit, and thus started a brawl on the ground.

Wheeljack and Soundwave both stood up as the ship leveled out, _**"Best trajectory for planetary exit obtained," **_

"Turn on artificial gravity. Set to the same as Earth's gravity," Wheeljack asked, not using its name, seeing if it would listen without direct use of the command.

"_**Artificial gravity set."**_ Wheeljack beamed.

The ship made its way out of the atmosphere and to the darkness of space and shot out of the planet, heading a course for Jupiter. Soundwave kept an eye on the engines as the ship flew, taking care to note any problems that might arise. So far, the ark was running smoothly. He felt it tip as it turned and finally the space flight engines began to power up. Now was the moment of truth for the starship. He listened intently as the engines whined louder and louder as the ship sped up, already they could see the moon getting larger. The body of the ship shook as the engines went to full, pushing its body through the emptiness that now surrounded it. They shot past the moon and the ship continued to speed up, until it spoke, "Maximum cruise speed obtained,"

"So?" Wheeljack turned to Soundwave, "What do you think?"

"Running perfectly." He looked out the window as the stars moved slightly, proof of how fast they were really going. They barely moved to Mars and were headed to the Asteroid belt. Both looked to one another, "Teletraan, prepare for evasive maneuvers, also set guns for pathway through debris,"

"_**Evasive maneuvers ready. Guns aimed for best course."**_

"Now let's see what it can do through the asteroids." Wheeljack moved to the controls just in case something went wrong and he needed to take over. He was no pilot, but he could maneuver the ship if something happened.

"Those hurt when we got to them," Soundwave growled with doubt, watching the asteroid belt coming up very quickly.

"You weren't Energon reinforced alloy," Wheeljack grinned.

The ship started into the belt, shooting at asteroids that were not moving and easily glided though the belt, making its way out as soon as it started. Its next heading would be Jupiter, which both bots waited to see in the window. Wheeljack was proud that the ship could move so easily. It also meant no one had to be at the helm all the time, which would be a relief to everyone else. He did know that someone would have to be watching just in case, but it could be a timed thing so no one was at the bridge all the time.

About 5 minutes had passed when they saw Jupiter coming up, "Teletraan, set orbit around Jupiter, watch out for moons,"

"_**Orbit will be obtained in 2 minutes,"**_ he ship chimed as it began to slow. Bot of the mechs felt the body of the ship lurch a bit as the front thrusters started to slow it down. Wheeljack mostly wanted to see how the ship would handle being just in orbit rather than landing, and that was a part of the test. When the ship slowed to a rather humanely normal speed, he heard the ship speak again, _**"Orbit obtained,"**_

"Alright, take us back to Earth, Teletraan," he ordered, "with full landing and parking," he looked at Soundwave as the ship started its engines again and they headed back for Earth.

* * *

_Chapter 18: "Well..." Sunstreaker looked down with a raised optic ridge, "things just went from bizarre to just downright awkward,"_


	18. Who Would Have Thought?

**A/N:** _Yay, another chapter :P Yes, I can pound these out qick because I have a lot of chapters already done. This will be the longest story in LTF yet. Hopefully they all enjoy where this is going._

* * *

It had been later that night that the ship had been taken into space. When it returned, it had parked as instructed and went back to sitting on its pocket of air. Tonight was the night, everyone knew and Sam and Mikaela couldn't have been more excited. They had returned a couple hours later with Optimus after the ship had returned to Earth and were bouncy. Even more so than the mechs itching to leave. Everything had been done in the main building and takeoff would commence shortly. Everyone was now on the ship, making themselves familiar with it's workings and where everything was. It base was pretty much deserted if one didn't count the 2000 foot ship that sat there.

Sam and Mikaela had really thought when they went shopping. They had come back shortly and asked for Optimus to bring a trailer so they could fill it, and fill it they did. It had cost a fortune that was paid for by the government and they headed back. When they returned, instead of emptying the trailer, he had just backed it into the storage bay, which was accessible from within the ship. The food, they guessed would last them years, and they even brought lots of water and whatever they would need. They were sure after the ordeal that they could find a local planet and get water there. Hell, Earth was NOT the only planet in the universe to have something as plentiful as water.

Optimus had been standing at the bridge, double checking with the other mechs while Wheeljack was double checking. He pressed a button on the wall and suddenly the doors shut on it. Just after, there was a hissing sound and then nothingness. He had turned on the oxygen that the humans would need. He continued to go through all of the checks and then rechecked them, making use the Ark was in perfect working order. Everything checked clear. The ship was ready, now the question was… was everyone else?

Wheeljack turned and reported that the Ark was ready to go to Optimus who nodded. The Commander left Wheeljack to go and speak to the others, calling them into the rec room that had been created on the ship, however much smaller it was, it still fit everyone, "Alright!" he called out, getting everyone's attention.

"_**Diagnostics complete. All systems ready for startup,"**_ The computer's voice came over the intercom of the entire ship, alerting everyone.

"I hope you are all prepared, because liftoff will commence once we are done in here! Is everyone ready to go home?"

The humans who had the jitters were nearly bouncing on poor Bumblebee. Of course they were nervous. Neither had been outside of the USA, let alone outside of the planet! They were leaving Earth. They were leaving the Sol system. They were perhaps leaving their galaxy. It was a hell of a thought once they grasped their minds around it, but they weren't deterred. Since the Autobots and Decepticons had come to Earth in the first place, it was their life and, honestly, this was just the next step to them.

"Now, I know that NASA has their humans tested for various mental and physical conditions, and going by what Ratchet says…" he looked pointedly at them with a straight face, "you two would never make it," he turned away, "This out of the way, prepare for flight, get your seats and as the humans say 'Godspeed'." He turned to leave, "Dismissed!" he waved a hand.

Just then the intercom went silent and then there was a slight tapping noise. Everyone looked up, wondering what was going on and then a voice came through, "This is the captain speaking. We have a... little problem with our engine sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."

A loud bang followed and it went back to the computer, _**"All systems go for launch, startup sequence initialized."**_

The ship had begun commencing it's count down, readying itself for takeoff, "Well, Mika, this is it!" Sam said a little nervously.

"Yeah, I'm scared but I am excited as well,"

"Me too… holy shit we are going into space!" he suddenly cheered, Mikaela joining in the cheer, "we need some alcohol!" she grinned.

"To the trailer!" Sam and Mikaela both bolted past all the mechs' feet, headed for the storage room where they could find the alcohol they hadn't forgotten to grab. Bumblebee joined them shortly after they had gone, "You know, you guys will probably see other life out here besides ourselves and yourselves, do be prepared for hostilities,"

"_**Ignition commenced."**_

"Oh come on, Bee, we took on a 50 foot tall Decepticon. I dunno anything scarier than that,"

"Prepare to be surprised," Bee said in a non-joking tone. Just then the engines rumbled to life. The humans looked at each other, grabbed their drinks and ran to Bee, who picked them up to bring them to the bridge to sit until take off was done.

"_**Engines running at 100 percent efficiency no anomalies detected. All systems go for takeoff." **_They had walked into the bridge at the ship's final phase as it began to rumble.

"_**Liftoff commenced,"**_

They found their seats as the ship suddenly lurched and they felt the actually very small Gs as the ship headed for space.

"_**Secondary boosters active, preparing for flight,"**_

Sam and Mikaela were both mesmerized as they watched as the ground got smaller and the starship headed for the clouds. They both felt a sudden sense of wonder as they watched the sky darken quickly.

"_**Best trajectory for atmospheric exit obtained," **_

There was no turning back now as they felt the ship level out and the darkness of space take over.

"_**Ready for burn. Planetary gravity exit obtained."**_ The computer said as the main engines began to cause the ship to shake a bit as soon as they were clear of the planet's gravity. Both humans were ecstatic as the heard the engines themselves as the ship set it's artificial gravity automatically.

"_**Attaining cruise speed,"**_ the ship droned as it continued to speed up fast than it had done previously, heading above the planet and out.

"It's running perfectly," Wheeljack announced, "All systems are still go," he pressed a few more buttons as the ship suddenly lurched again, causing everyone to suddenly glance at him.

"Don't worry, I was setting the speed to pass cruise,"

"How fast can this monster go?" Sam suddenly asked from his seat.

"It can obtain speeds faster than your light years,"

"Dude! That's like warp speed!"

"My kinda speed," Skywarp chimed.

Within an hour, the ship was moving so fast that stars were visibly moving beside it. Sam had a general idea of their speed relative to the size of the stars and suddenly he turned, "Show me the Sol system, Teletraan," he called.

"_**Sol system active on second window,"**_ the computer replied.

Optimus looked at the man with a hiked optic ridge, "What?" Sam suddenly asked.

"I take it you have experience with Teletraan?" Optimus voice sounded amused.

"You could say that,"

-

_It's a thief in the night to come and grab you.  
It can creep up inside you and consume you_.

About 10 hours had passed. These hours were spent with a very nervous mech who was pacing in his quarters. He worried more and more about the possibility of being one of those Ancients. And although he respected them, he didn't want that kind of responsibility.

_Better think twice, your train of thought will be altered._

He was considering going to Soundwave. He wanted to rid the fact he might be one of the Ancients. He decided that he would see him and get this over with. He could go on having a clear mind and not have this annoying worry to deal with also.

_Your mind's in disturbia, it's like the darkness is light._

The mech turned and headed for where he knew the one for his answers would be. He groaned when he stepped up to the foot plate, alerting the other of his visitor. The doors opened and there sat Soundwave with his symbiots. He looked up from his data pad, "You've come to see me, so apparently you need something,"

"You could say that," the mech replied anxiously.

"What is it you need then?" Soundwave really wasn't surprised as to who it was. He had suspected this particular bot would come to him eventually.

"I… erm… need you do one of those – you know – memory things?"

_I gotta get out or figure this shit out.  
It's too close for comfort, oh._

Soundwave set the data pad he was reading down, "Why have you come for it? Think you may be one?"

"No, I came to clear my conscience that I am _not_ one – nothing against you – but it would help me if I didn't have that worry over my head too."

_Disturbia, am I scaring you tonight?_

"I see," Soundwave replied with a nod. Then he turned to his symbiots, and with a thought sent them out of the room. He waved the mech in, "very well, come and sit and we will get this done for you,"

"It's not gonna kill me is it?"

"Not at all," Soundwave shook his head with a small chuckle, "I tried to tell the others that this procedure is harmless," the telepath shrugged as the other mech made his way to him and sat down beside him.

_Disturbia, ain't used to what you like._

Soundwave leaned forward slightly, and that's when the appendages around his body began to move more, snaking and then unwinding, "I'll need to connect with your spark chamber and your mind to get them in synch to proceed,"

The mech nodded, "Just do whatever it is you need to do," he looked away, shuttering his optics when he felt Soundwave suddenly grasp him and hold his arms and pull him against his own chassis in case there was involuntary movement, one of Soundwave's appendages slithered around him and wormed it's way in between his chest armor and connected in this impromptu way. The mech gasped with a wince, "You… you never said anything about pain, Soundwave!" he cried out.

"You never asked," Soundwave said casually as he allowed the second snake like appendage to go to the mech's head as the panel on the side of his head opened, granting Soundwave access. He connected it there with a soft 'click'.

The mech went offline instantly in his grasp and Soundwave held on as he rooted through his mind, looking for what the mech feared may have been there. It hadn't taken long, but Soundwave found it – the mech would not be happy about this, oh no. He accessed the silent memory by sliding up a third appendage over the mech's other side and to his head and connected, much the same way that Wheeljack and Ratchet had done in the past and now is when he broke through and began rummaging.

_Release me from this curse I'm in.  
Trying to maintain but I'm struggling._

It hadn't taken long, and he freed the mind as he trudged deeper, and what he saw made him gasp. Still he hadn't moved until everything was uncovered and then the body began to quaver violently in his hold, its arms flailing wildly.

Soundwave held tighter, but if he kept on the way he was holding, then the body would certainly break free, and break free it did, convulsing like it had been struck with lightning, forcing his arms to let go. It had ripped one of Soundwave's appendages off as Soundwave followed the body as it went down. He soon realized that something was horribly wrong when the mech became unresponsive. He growled loudly, since he had no idea what was going on at the moment. He had never caused this in anyone he had done his own extractions on, which gave cause for worry.

He felt the Spark sputter and then reach out so hard it slammed against the Spark casing and chest of the body, causing the body to jump at him. He disconnected completely, moving his appendages to his own body and let them wrap accordingly as he went to sit on the body to hold it down and this is when Starscream had come to the door, it opened.

Starscream was going to speak to Soundwave about finding the Ancients again. He hadn't expected to walk in on… on this! What he had seen made him gasp in shock, "Soundwave! _What_ are you _doing?!_" Starscream suddenly hissed at him accusingly, catching the mech's attention and causing him to look up but Soundwave hadn't stopped struggling against the other mech as he looked from the mech to Starscream and back again. He grabbed at the flailing arms and pinned them down with his own. Looking back up to Starscream, he shook his head briskly before his attention was back on the mech below him.

The twins had heard Starscream and when Soundwave is being yelled at like that, then by Primus there was definitely reason to go and check it out. They both looked at each other with shit eating grins and they darted for the sound.

The vocal processor of the body started to screech and cry out, but was giving more of a gurgling, choking sound and then quieted. Starscream was still standing there, jaw agape as he wondered what exactly had happened or was happening in here. _Never _in his many lives had he ever seen something like this.

And this is what the twins happened upon. Both suddenly stopped, "That's gross," Sunstreaker said almost casually, his voice and facial features hinting disgust.

His brother however snorted and was far more dramatic about what he was seeing, "Oh man, that… that's… Co – Come on, Soundwave!" They both left, not wishing to see more. Neither made it far before the sounds coming from the room alerted them that they may have stumbled upon something else rather than what they had originally thought and they stopped, exchanging worried looks before they started back for the room.

Soundwave stopped moving and was prepared to yell at the already retreated twins when he suddenly froze. Something was wrong. Something was horribly wrong. He felt a strange spasm in his chest and looked down as the plates over his Spark began to part on their own accord. He wanted to reach up and shut them, but couldn't. He began to panic as it felt like his body was going to deceive him in some way. Just then, one of his Energon pumps started up violently and then the second and then a third began pumping. Pain was already etching its way into his spark chamber as his pumps started pulling his own energon from his lines into them. The body below him had opened its own chest plates as if it were ready to receive something. Soundwave looked down. Surprise was readily read on his features but his face mask and visor made it unable to be seen.

He saw the Spark and gasped again, his optics darting to Starscream as pain crept up through him and hit his chest hard enough to make him cry out in a hiss as his exposed Spark pulsed heavily. He shook his head as if to shake away the pain as he looked back down, realizing the Spark below him was acting more like it was starving as it jumped at him again. He wanted to back up from the Spark, feeling too close for comfort, but found his body wouldn't move.

He used what strength he could to hold the body down as Ratchet came by his door alerted by the noise, stopping with a look of surprise as he saw what was going on. He pushed past Starscream to get nearer.

"Stay… stay back!" Soundwave howled as he shook, sounding as if he was in great pain as reddish tinted Energon gushed a little from him, however the force used to expel the liquid was not enough to make it to the second body, only dripping slowly from his chest and seeping down his front.

This time it was Starscream's turn to gasp. He knew what that stuff was. He wondered why or more – how – he was producing the substance. At first it was a very small amount and then Soundwave reeled violently, rocking back as he threw his head back with a scream very unlike him, more spurting out as his pumps expelled the stuff forcefully, this time stronger as if the lurch itself had caused the liquid to come forth, very little landing on the one below him. The rest just dribbled down his own chest once again.

As more mechs gathered, no one knew what to think as they saw this odd behavior. Curiosity got the better of each and every mech that started to gather to watch the Telepath. Reddish Energon now spattered both bodies all over the place, making the place look more like a very gory murder site than… whatever was possibly going on.

Ratchet was at a complete loss as he watched Soundwave's body jolt violently again, the pain doubled as more of the reddish tinted liquid sputtering out onto the chest of the other as some drooled down his body. The Energon that had made it successfully into the chest of the one below him began seeping down into the innards and onto the spark chamber. The spark sucked it up as it got near it.

Soundwave's own Spark became erratic as his body forcefully produced the substance, causing alarms in his HUD to go off, which he was forced to ignore, warning him of overheating circuits and other circuits blowing. As the medic ran scans, he was alarmed to find all of the errors across his own HUD telling him about Soundwave's quickly diminishing condition. Ratchet decided that this couldn't possibly be good and headed closer to struggling Telepath.

Another pained cry escaped the Communications Specialist, which stopped the medic in his tracks. He jerked again and leaned forward, tilting himself over the chest of the body below him. If he were human, he would be looking as if he was throwing up as more energon spilled downwards from his chest. His body made the most grotesque sounds that were very similar to a human choking and gagging, "Primus, Soundwave, what in the Pit is going on here?"

"S-she… needs…. Rarified En-Energon…" Soundwave choked out in reply, still trying to hold the body down, yet losing control of his own at the same time. A couple of his appendages tightened and uncoiled and moved about him in irregular ways from erratic signals, some of them reaching down to pin down the body as it convulsed under him. Ratchet looked surprised. Perhaps Soundwave hit his head, "Can I be of assistance?"

"No… you – you… can't!" Soundwave all but yelled as he struggled against another pang that hit him, nearly causing him to collapse as his body visibly trembled violently, almost as bad as the one under him, more fluid spilling into the Spark. Ratchet noticed that each time it successfully hit the Spark chamber and Spark; the Spark reacted, becoming stronger and brighter. He dared not intervene, still wondering what exactly was going on.

The symbiots who had been perched all over Starscream let out sounds towards their creator as they watched him struggle. Even though they were not sure what was going on, they recognized the Energon and knew it was not normal for him to produce this. They watched intently, wishing they could go to him, but were told to stay put because of the danger of the situation.

Soundwave began moving, although it was more involuntary as if his body knew what to do. He knew he was already too weak to fight it. His body lifted, situating itself to that he was on his hands – which still held the arms – and then his knees so that his own spark chamber was directly above the other and he let out a rather loud shriek mixed with sine wave sounds, throwing his head back as more his body throttled and whined, his cooling system kicked in full force as his engines revved hard to help the pumps within his system. Energon sputtered from him and dripped this time more directly into the chest below.

By now everyone who was on the ship was now trying to see in the door to what was causing all of the commotion. Some were grossed out by the display, but most were morbidly curious. Starscream was holding them back with various threats and growls as he watched until Optimus got close with Vector Prime. He allowed both to walk past as Vector Prime recognized the Energon immediately as Rarified, "Soundwave!" he called, worried for the mech's safety, knowing this was not supposed to happen. He had no real idea what was going on, but he knew that _something_ was causing his body to produce the liquid.

Again Soundwave wrenched violently, this time with a sound that was a mix of high and low pitched sounds forcing everyone around to cover their audio receptors as pain and a larger amount dumped from his chest and into the chest of the other below him and it finally calmed. The Spark chamber and chest plates closed on the body and his began to close, having completed its job.

Having all of his energy spent and his own Energon reserves dangerously low Soundwave felt the body relax under him and then he fell over to the side and went into stasis on the spot. Vector hurried to the body with Ratchet and knelt down. Ratchet shook his head, "Unbelievable," He muttered as he went over Soundwave's prone body.

"What the hell _was_ that?" Sam suddenly asked, having made his way between various feet and legs with Mikaela. He uncovered his ears to see the reddish colored liquid spattered about and Soundwave drop. The symbiots bound through and around everyone at the door to get to their creator, all of them moving over him worried for him.

"That… was Soundwave feeding her Spark with Rarified Energon," Vector scanned her, making sure she would be fine.

"But…" Sam stopped, tilting his head confusedly. The mech lying there wasn't a she as far as he knew, "But dude – how the hell can that be a _she_? That's _Barricade_!"

"Well," Sunstreaker stood with his brother behind Starscream again, the sounds coming from the room having caught their attention again. The yellow warrior looked down with a raised optic ridge, "Things just went from strange to downright just… awkward,"

* * *

_And now you know where my muse with Barricade's Surprise! came from! Ha!_

_Next Chapter: "Megatron... He's Alive!"_


	19. Sometimes It Really is the Destination

**A/N:** _For all of ya anxiously awaiting Barricade Surprise, don't worry, it's coming along :P Until then, hopefully this will keep ya occupied :)_

_And I have to announce that I HATE SNOW! We just got like a foot dumped on us. Sucks. But at least I ain't in Maine, I'm only in NH. They have like 4 foot now HAHA!_ _*goes back to her hidey-hole*_

* * *

"_**Unknown Cybertronian Proto-form detected. Trajectory is unknown. Alliance is unknown."**_ The ship brought up the Proto-form on the main window.

"_**Attempting communications…"**_ The computer droned out, but after a second, it came back, _**"Communications with Proto-form disabled."**_

Too bad only one mech was there to see it. Ironhide snorted as he saw it. He had no idea who it was and they were going far too fast to stop to find out. The ship showed the Proto-form fly past them and monitored it as it continued on its way.

Ironhide noted with interest. He would make the report to Optimus when he returned to the bridge. It wasn't like that was anything they could do anyway.

-

Soundwave had been checked over by Ratchet and with help, was hoisted to the medical bay along with their newly acquired femme. No one could believe Vector Prime's words. He'd called Barricade a she. That was just crooked, no matter how one put it. He had carried the femme himself, setting her down on an empty berth next to Soundwave, "Beta," he said softly as he set her down.

"What were you talking about back there?" Ratchet turned as he checked Soundwave's vital signals. He grasped the dangling appendages and lifted them over the body.

"Beta – Barricade was Alpha Trion's helper. She was the only femme sparked by Primus, and her spark was composed of almost all Rarified Energon because she has some of his essence in her body, thus why she is a she."

"So that explains the red Energon. I thought he guarded the stuff, not made it." Ratchet continued to run checks over Soundwave, getting a bit annoyed at his symbiots as they scurried over his body trying to figure out how to wake him.

"He isn't supposed to create it, Ratchet. It's not natural and devastated his systems as you can see,"

"Well he will make it, but he will be out of it for a while as his systems compensate for the Energon loss,"

"I figured we would find Beta on Cybertron since there were no femmes on Earth." Vector moved over her body, double checking her before Ratchet walked to her after giving up on Soundwave with the symbiots in his way.

"There are no femmes left, Vector. Megatron massacred them all in his rampage for the Allspark. We assume it was to stop the creation of sparkling Autobots," Vector Prime shook his head at this, "the Allspark was our last hope. Now our race is as good as gone,"

"Then we are lucky that Beta's spark sits right here, disguised fully as a mech,"

"I don't know how Barricade is going to feel after waking up to all that Soundwave uncovered, I assume she will be quite… displeased and confused," Starscream walked into the medical bay, rounding Barricade to Soundwave. He motioned for the symbiots to move and they did. Ratchet glared at the Seeker, wondering why the small mechs listened to him so well then remember that the 5 were ancients themselves. He turned back to Barricade, finding everything in working order. Tapping her twice on the chest, her spark chamber opened to reveal her new spark.

Unlike all others he had seen, it glowed red, "Primus had put some of his own essence into her spark and that is how femmes came to be. Every femme's spark had a minute bit after that. I imagine that down the lines it became almost untraceable, however it also gave them the ability to procreate when joined with a mech's spark," Vector Prime explained as he watched Ratchet work.

After running a few scans, Ratchet closed the chest plates again after confirming she was healthy, "She'll be fine," he finally said.

Both Ancients suddenly stood straighter and regarded the medic, who felt the optics upon him, "What?"

"Ratchet," Vector Prime started as Starscream seemed to squirm, "she needs to be protected,"

"From what?"

"Well she _is_ the only femme on board." Starscream finally said, "And most certainly the only femme alive – And not that I _believe_ anyone would do anything to her-"

"What are you trying to say?"

"She cannot be… compromised… in any way before her mission," Vector Prime rumbled. Starscream nodded. Ratchet gave them a confused look until the statement sunk in, "You think…?" He paused with the nod of the two mechs, "I will see to her protection, we all will,"

"Having her around will lead to temptation. I don't want to find out anything… happened to her, Ratchet," Vector Prime said in a nearly threatening tone as looked down to the femme, "I will trust your judgment on this matter."

Starscream stared down at the femme, glad another Ancient was with them now. He had respected her greatly in the War and hoped that she would be as brave as she had been then. He was a bit annoyed to see Barricade as a femme now, but Primus worked in mysterious ways and he wouldn't question it.

-

Optimus made his way back to the bridge. He was followed by a few others, still curious as to what was going on. None of them dared to go to the medical bay, in fear that Ratchet would assault them for medical supplies or worse. He was shocked when Vector Prime had referred to Barricade as a she. Hell, everyone was shocked.

"I heard the commotion. What the slag was going on back there?" Ironhide turned slightly to look at Optimus.

"Soundwave was…" was he even sure _what_ Soundwave was doing? "…helping Barricade?" He guessed with a shrug.

"Helping how? It sounded more like someone was dying back there," Ironhide looked back up at the screen.

"He was producing Rarified Energon for Barricade," Starscream heard the conversation and walked up beside Ironhide after his visit to the med bay. The Weapons Specialist had heard the term before, yet he wasn't entirely sure of what it was and he tilted his optic toward the Air Commander in question.

"Rarified Energon runs through Primus," The Seeker said as he looked up towards the window that was showing information readouts on everything around the ship.

"So why did Barricade need it?"

"Because she has his essence in her,"

Ironhide remained quiet a moment, then turned fully to Starscream, "Why are you referring to Barricade as if he is a femme?"

"Because _she_ is a femme and needed the Energon because all femmes have a little in their sparks," Starscream gave Ironhide a serious look.

"Now I know you have lost it," he growled, turning away to face Optimus, "Barricade, a femme, hah!" he quickly turned to his Commander, "Prime, I saw something on the main window while you were in the back. Teletraan spotted a proto-form that passed us. It had no information on it whatsoever."

"Strange," Optimus turned and looked for Wheeljack, who was currently not on the bridge. He wanted to know what names were loaded into the computer to make a better decision. Perhaps the one that past them was an Autobot or Decepticon that had picked up the message he had last left while they were on Earth.

Starscream stormed off, headed back for the med bay to check on the patients there. He still couldn't believe Ironhide. Was he really that thick headed? The signs were popping up everywhere now that no one was lying to him. But he wasn't the only one, either.

-

Through a cosmic web that could only be described by the untrained eye as a spider's web gone hairy, a hand reaches through a rift in space. Another hand followed as the being behind the rift realized how close it was to freedom. It wouldn't be long now. The being would get his revenge and he would bring down the ones who locked him in this prison. All of his plans were working perfectly thus far, and that included the mech he sent out so long ago. He knew the mech would be reaching its destination soon by his connection with it. Soon The Fallen would rise again, and with them both, especially the modifications he planned to use on The Fallen, would be a terror no one had ever seen.

Withdrawing his hands, he realized he was getting low on energy and the explosion had sent away any chance of planets to find. He realized that he needed to get out, and very soon. With that, he attacked the rift violently again.

-

Vector Prime had been standing quietly with Barricade as he waited for her to wake again. Suddenly without warnings, the orb on his chest began to flash random colors and he stumbled backwards before falling. His sparkbeat had become unbalanced and his optics offlined. Starscream was at his side in an instant, knowing full well what was going on.

"Starscream!" Ratchet called, moving to the mech and kneeling down, "Slag, what happened to him?"

"It's a strong reaction from the rift in space. It must be getting worse!" Starscream looked down over the mech, knowing he would wake soon after the trauma was over.

It took about 10 minutes for Vector Prime to finally come to. When he did, he grasped his head. It hurt, badly. He looked around, finding he was still against the wall and Starscream was kneeling beside him, "The rift…" he spoke softly.

"I know, Vector." the Seeker replied, "How much longer?"

"I don't know. It's getting very large. Danger is upon us. Escape is imminent." He made his way to his feet, still cradling his head. It was unusual for him to end up with a headache from the onslaught, but they weren't dealing with just a rift. It was being torn at, possibly violently, which disrupted his systems even more. The guardian wished he knew where the tyrant was so he could possibly put a stop to it, even if it cost him his very own existence in the process.

-

A day after passing the starship, the Proto-form switched to it's alt mode, which had some similarities to Megatron but he was also different. He had two sets of wings and double tail rudders. It was getting very close. It could see the intended planet with its optics and knew it would be there extremely soon. It passed by the moon that circled it and began its way into the atmosphere. The plasma cannons fired, but he dodged them easily and headed for the planet where the body lied.

The American government was surprised to find out that the mech had cleared the cannons and tracked it as it flew over the land. Jets were sent out to get information since it never replied to any channel they tried. Whether it was even listening, no one would know. A pair of F-22 Raptors were the first to get close to it, but it turned and fired on them, destroying them instantly. It was not afraid of these machines that chased it, in fact, the more that came, the better.

Getting across the land in an amount of time that made a Blackbird seem slow, it made it off the coast of the Canadian border and started scouring the surface of the water, hunting for its prize. It didn't take long to get a fix on the bodies that were dumped there, and it was a bit upset at the condition the one was in. The jet-like creature dived into the water, disappearing below its surface as it went down to retrieve the body. The weight of the water didn't bother it at all.

After about an hour, it surfaced with the body in its arms and headed away, looking for somewhere to land with it so it could revive it. The being shot at anyone who came near and the ones who did see and survive reported that the mech had brought up the dead body. They didn't know what it wanted it for. Three ships and twelve jets later, they were called back. Whatever this mech was packing, they were no match for it.

The Proto-form flew for another hour before it found land. It quickly landed, not caring who or what saw it as it began working with the body. The humans around were taking pictures, which annoyed it to no end, but it couldn't stop what it was doing. It reached into its own chest and pulled out a glowing orb. The humans around all stopped when they saw the mech push it towards the dead body.

-

_I see the bad moon arising.  
I see trouble on the way._

On the Starship now headed for the outer spiral of the Milky Way and out of the galaxy itself, Starscream was in his quarters lying down. He suddenly shot up when he got a really bad feeling. His optics darted frantically as he tried to find the reason behind it. When he did find it, he shuddered.

_I see earthquakes and lightnin'.  
I see bad times today_

Megatron.

_Don't go around tonight,  
Well, it's bound to take your life,  
There's a bad moon on the rise._

He stood shakily and headed for his door. He had to warn about him. Even though he was on Earth, he was still a threat. As he walked, he wondered how Megatron came back. He got to the rec room to find Optimus talking with Vector Prime, "Vector, he's back!"

Vector Prime's optics shot to the Seeker, "What are you talking about?"

_I hear hurricanes a blowing.  
I know the end is coming soon._

"Megatron… He's alive!" Vector, who now knew the name differences winced, "You're certain?"

"Yes, Vector. I'm positive, I felt it."Starscream put his hand to his chest for emphasis.

_I fear rivers over flowing.  
I hear the voice of rage and ruin_

"How is Megatron alive?" Cliffjumper peered to Starscream with doubt, "His spark was extinguished, you fool."

Starscream growled as he glared at Cliffjumper, "I promise he is very much alive and he will be coming," His voice had such a foreshadowing that it made Cliffjumper and Optimus shudder.

_Hope you got your things together.  
Hope you are quite prepared to die._

"Well if what you say is true, and Megatron is back from the dead – which I seriously doubt – then why can't we deal with him when we see him?" Cliffjumper asked.

"Because he isn't coming back as himself, he's coming back as an Ancient," Starscream explained, "We called him The Fallen,"

"Why the creepy name?"

"Because he turned on us and sided with Unicron, gaining power as he did so."

_Looks like we're in for nasty weather.  
One eye is taken for an eye._

"You mean to say he's this Unicron guy's right hand mech?"

"I mean to say that that doesn't even cover it," Starscream nodded to Vector Prime as a means to ask him to walk with him. Both Ancients left the rec room, leaving the two to stir in what had been said.

Cliffjumper glanced at Optimus who saw the look and looked back, "He can't be serious…"

"Dead serious," Optimus said as he looked towards the door.

_There's a bad moon on the rise._

"_**Space Bridge initiated."**_ Teletraan One's voice came over the intercom. Everyone felt the ship jerk. For a second, everyone was held in suspended animation as the ship opened a gate just as it left the Milky Way Galaxy and entered a portal, taking it's 25 million light year travel down to days.

_-_

**Stasis Lock Recovery Sequences Initiated.**

**Complete, Systems Online.**

Megatron felt the shock to his systems. He wasn't sure why he was even feeling, but he was. His optics onlined and he found himself lying on his back, staring up at the sky. Why was he here? His outer sensors came online, telling him that he was near an ocean. Where was he? He remembered going offline in the middle of a city.

"Galvatron," A voice came. Megatron felt he knew that name, knew it well even though he was unsure as to why. He knew who the mech was addressing and he turned his head, seeing a black and silver mech standing there, looming over his chassis, "Who are you?" he demanded.

"Galvatron, your memory has been restored. You have been brought back to life because your services are required. You have also been reformatted with better flight efficiency and your weapons have been upgraded. Your master has given you a new name with your reformat. He awaits you."

"I asked you a question."

"As you wish, you may call me Sideways…" the mech bowed his head slightly, "Come, Galvatron, he will be free soon and then we will get our revenge," Galvatron stood slowly, his body balancing and compensating for his new systems and armor. Looking down at his body he saw the difference immediately. He was bulkier and his armor seemed thicker, "What is this?" He asked. He could feel the new weapons in his body.

"It is the Armor of Unicron," came the reply.

He glanced to the side and saw Blackout, Bonecrusher and Brawl all lying there. All three of them onlined instantly, their red optics blinking a few times as their CPUs processed new information and old. Sideways glanced at them, "You all will be a part of Unicron's armada," he said gently as Blackout began to move, "You have all been reformatted with denser alloy and better weapons. Your bodies are now that of fliers." Galvatron watched the three nod to Sideways then to himself. Smiling with a sadistic nature, Galvatron looked to the sky.

Sideways noticed more jets coming and glanced up before leaping and switching forms. Galvatron followed along with the other three, firing at the jets and at the ground before all of them took off for the skies, "Watch for cannon fire," Sideways warned.

"Very well, where do we go?" Galvatron asked as they headed out of the planet, dodging fire from other human jets and then both swerved in maneuvers that would make any jet trick pilot jealous as they dodged the plasma cannons that were aimed right at them.

"Your master wishes we go to Primus. He has a plan,"

Even though no face could be seen, Galvatron was grinning madly. Sweet revenge was at hand.

* * *

_Next Chapter: "No!" It came from all of the Ancients at once. _

_"It begins!" Starscream cried out, horrified. They had all hoped they would have had more time._


	20. Surprise, Cybertron!

**A/N:** Next chappy :D Damn I am bored outta my mind (It's the only excuse I cam come up with for changing my penname as well. :P)

**"Bold"** - Cybertronian

**_"Bold" _**- Cybertronian or Teletraan One

* * *

Sam stood as he watched the approaching galaxy. He had no idea what one it was, since he didn't study them, but his eyes were glued to it. It had to be one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. It was a sure change from the constant darkness since they had left the Milky Way. Perceptor was standing there with him analyzing data and such and Sam turned to him, "That's where we are going?"

"Yes, humans know it as the Andromeda Galaxy or Messier 31. We will arrive, I have estimated in 4 Earth days." Perceptor said helpfully.

-

In the med bay, Ratchet had been watching over the two who had come in recently. He noted that Soundwave was beginning to wake and was abruptly at his side, "Soundwave, how are you feeling?"

"Like I just sparked about 20 sparklings," Soundwave groaned. Ratchet hiked an optic ridge, remembering the creation state of his extraction, "I see," the medic replied with scrutiny, "that is something I wish to learn about. How you can spark without the Allspark or a femme,"

Soundwave glanced to Barricade, ignoring the medic, "Will she be alright?" he leaned up and then pushed himself to a sitting position.

"She should be fine. A little bit of a shock to her systems, but she can apparently handle it. How did you find out Barricade was one of them?"

"Barricade came to me saying that he, at the time, didn't want the possibility looming over his head. He asked for an extraction and that is when everything went nuts." Soundwave shook the small headache that threatened him away, "Am I clear to leave?" Ratchet nodded and Soundwave stood up, walking to Barricade and he lightly touched her forehead, "It's good to have you among us again, Beta," he said gently and left.

-

Galvatron and Sideways boosted through space as fast as they could, headed for Cybertron, "Do you know what is going on Sideways?"

"Not exactly, I just know that he sent me to get you after there was a rip in space. I assume it has to do with Primus."

"And the Autobots?"

"Auto_who_?"

"The Autobots. They are the sworn enemies of the Decepticons. The very ones who tried to keep me from getting the Allspark before."

"I did pass a Cybertronian Starship en route to get you, if that's any help,"

Galvatron smirked darkly, "It's plenty."

"How did you escape the rift, Galvatron?"

"I was reborn, Sideways. I had died in that other universe that I had been trapped in. When I did died, my spark left that verse and headed out, finding Cybertron and I was born into the Megatron that they know." the tyrant answered, "Do they know about me?"

"I doubt it," Sideways answered simply, "also it would be wise to know that the starship will arrive on Cybertron before we do. Do you have any plans of attack?"

"How long until they arrive on the planet?"

"I was unable to get a clear reading of their speed, actually. So I am not sure."

"Then let's hurry it up a bit, shall we?"

-

Starscream stood in the small rec room. He knew that they were getting close to Cybertron, but his main worry was on Megatron. He knew he was reactivated, but how was such a mystery. He had heard Ironhide mention a Proto-form headed in the general direction of earth, but where had that one come from? It was strange to know that Teletraan couldn't get any information on it either. That only begged the question of if it was originally from Cybertron or if it came from somewhere else. All in all, Starscream was becoming frustrated. Things were moving along too quickly and they seemed to be taking forever to get to Cybertron, when in all actuality it was getting there faster than anything else he knew existed. He commended Wheeljack and Soundwave for their genius. Suddenly his optics shot towards the door and it opened, "Soundwave," he said with a pleasant smile.

"Yes," Soundwave nodded, "I am happy to say that Beta will be with us shortly." He said gently.

"Good, although I hope she prefers to use the name Barricade and can keep up the façade of a mech. We are going to be running into Decepticons and until we can get them to defect, they will pose a big problem for all of us and if they find out that there is a femme amongst us…" Starscream didn't even finish his sentence.

"Once the Decepticons realize there is no war, I am positive that they will defect. A lot of them only wish the war would end."

"I know, Soundwave, but one of them bothers me most of all," Starscream said thoughtfully.

"Shockwave?" Starscream nodded, "Yes. You and I both know how he functions. He might take sides with the Autobots in pure logic, but… What of when Megatron gets there?"

"Megatron? He isn't…?"

"He is. I felt it the other day while I was in the medical bay. He will be coming for Cybertron."

"That makes things that much more complicated. Thank Primus we will get there before he will."

-

3 days later, the Ark was starting to slow, startling the humans from their sleeping as they bolted for the bridge, worried something had happened, "What's wrong? What's happening?"

Wheeljack turned to them, "Teletraan knows we are getting close to Cybertron," He turned back to the window.

"Are we close enough to hail the planet?" Optimus asked, curious. Wheeljack nodded with a shrug, "should be,"

-

On Cybertron, Blaster had been working in one of the control rooms close to Iacon when a sudden blip came up on the screen. He was getting a reading of an incoming Cybertronian ship. His computer gave a little information on it,, however. Whoever had built it knew what they were doing. He was surprised when the computer read out it's speed and a bit of diagnostics that Teletraan sent to it. He had never seen anything that could fly like that, and it gave no hints whether it was friend or foe, **"Slag!" **He cried out and jumped from his seat, watching the monitor when a voice came through, _**"…is is…. imus Prime… Come in…. on,"**_

Blaster stood stock still. He knew that voice, but that was impossible! Excitedly he reached up and flicked a switch, the screen fizzled and then on it, it showed Optimus standing in the middle of a bridge with various other Autobots and… Decepticons? What was this? **"Optimus Prime, this is Chief Communications Officer Blaster, where are you? What is your situation? Why are there Decepticons aboard that ship?"** Blaster quickly contacted Ultra Magnus and Jetfire as he sent the question.

"_**Blaster?"**_ Optimus asked as the connection became stronger, _**"We are not far from Cybertron, our situation is delicate. I need you to have Ultra Magnus set up a meeting for when we get there. There is no time to waste, there is much to discuss. And to answer your question about the Decepticons, it will be answered when we get there. They are not to be fired upon in any way."**_

"**Right away, Optimus,"** Blaster said as he turned from the console, Jetfire being the first to get there, looked up at the screen, **"What's going on?"**

"**Hey, Jetfire, where's Magnus?"**

"**He's coming, what's the problem?"**

"**No problem,"** he thumbed towards the monitor, showing what he had seen, **"Wow, no way!"** Jetfire went closer to the monitor, staring at it, **"Am I dreaming? Is that really Optimus Prime?"**

"**If you are, then we are all in it!"** Blaster grinned, **"They are on a starship and will be here soon,"**

"**Why are there Decepticons on that ship?"** Jetfire pointed out Thundercracker and Skywarp.

"**Not sure, Optimus said we would be briefed at a meeting he wants Ultra Magnus to set up. He said his situation is delicate."**

"**This is amazing!"** Jetfire chimed, truly excited to be seeing their leader again, **"find the other officers and let them know about the meeting in the main building as soon as that starship touches down."**

And this is when Ultra Magnus walked in, curious of all the excitement, **"What is going on in here?"** he asked.

"**Optimus Prime has returned!"** Both Blaster and Jetfire cheered, **"Optimus asked that you set up a meeting for when he arrives."**

"_**Ultra Magnus,"**_ Optimus' relieved voice came through the speakers.

"**Optimus, it's so good to hear your voice again, sir,"**

"_**As it is good to hear yours as well,"**_

"_**You know what? I just thought of something,"**_ Starscream's voice came out over the speaker, _**"We have been having a hell of a time convincing those here, but now we have to convince all of them?"**_ The Seeker pointed towards the screen then flung his arms exasperated. Ultra Magnus saw the white one speaking and asked, **"Is that _Starscream_?"**

"_**Yes it is, Magnus,"**_ Optimus replied, the Seeker turning to look at the screen.

"**Why is there a Decepticon Seeker in your crew?!"**

"_**He is an Autobot,"**_ Optimus corrected, **"**_**and all will be explained when we arrive."**_ Just then the two humans came into view and looked up, **"What are **_**those**_**?!"**

"_**Humans,"**_Optimus replied, _**"I need all of you to download the language files off of Teletraan One's mainframe as soon as we land. It is imperative that you learn it,"**_ Ultra Magus nodded.

"_**Also, Magnus, what is the atmosphere there? Can one who breathes oxygen breathe it?"**_

"**I don't see why not? There are all parts of oxygen in the air," **

"_**What about the toxins?"**_

"**Surprisingly one of the toxins help create the oxygen, it's been building for some time and no one knew what it was, but as it was deemed harmless, no one did anything about it. Why do you ask?"**

"_**Because the humans will require oxygen to breathe on Cybertron,"**_

"**You will have to tell us about these humans,"**

Both Mikaela and Sam snorted, "Why can't they use simple English?"

_-_

Needless to say, the bridge of the ship was now bustling with life. The humans had taken perch on Bumblebee, afraid they would get stepped on by the wandering and excited mechs that were now all over the place. Ultra Magnus had been watching, counting who all was there. He balked when he saw the other Seekers and Soundwave there as well. A lot was due for an explanation. He hoped Optimus could supply a good enough reason as to why Soundwave was among them. And he was also curious who the strange colored mech was that appeared a few times. He didn't look like any mech that had been sparked recently.

The crew knew they were being watched but ignored it. They were more interested in talking and getting to Cybertron.

Starscream glanced at the ex-Decepticons around him and waved them to him, "Come, let's talk," he ordered. They all followed. When they got into the rec room, he turned, "I think it's best that we all go to the Decepticons on Cybertron together and talk to them,"

"You think they will believe us?" Thundercracker asked, "Besides, you're an Autobot now," this time he nearly snickered.

"They'll listen to Soundwave if not me or you guys. He was as high up there as Shockwave,"

"Well I don't think they will believe the Autobots. They will have no reason not to believe us, we were on the planet."

"And what about telling them your stories?" Skywarp asked. He received a glare in return, "They will probably not believe it. Would you if you hadn't seen for yourself?"

"What are you talking about? I have seen it and I am still skeptical!" Starscream facepalmed, then rubbed his hand down his face, "Soundwave, can you wake Beta? We need to make sure she can keep up her façade,"

"Who's Beta?"

"Barricade," Starscream answered quickly, "Let's get back to the bridge. I estimate we should be landing very soon," The Seekers nodded towards the Air Commander as Soundwave headed for the medical bay.

-

Soundwave walked into the medical bay to be surprised, "Beta!" he called. The femme turned her head and looked at him, "Barricade," she replied, looking up at the CCS, "How you are feeling?"

"Very well," Soundwave nodded, "Can you keep up the front of being a mech? You do remember the Massacres of Floatila, correct?"

"Of course I remember," Barricade sighed loudly, "I wasn't there, but I heard about it. Bad enough. I can keep up the front, of course. Those who do not suspect the better… For me." Soundwave nodded, "And for Alpha Trion when we find him," Barricade nodded this time, "How long have I been in recharge?"

"Since I first woke you, and now we are almost to Cybertron. That's why everyone on the ship is in hysterics. We will be landing soon," Soundwave said, "You have been in stasis for about 4 days I would think,"

"Where is Vector?"

"I am not sure, he was on the bridge."

-

Soundwave and Barricade made it to the bridge and suddenly Soundwave reached for the communications with Cybertron and shut it off, disconnecting any audio or visual feeds. Optimus looked at him accusingly, "I need everyone on the bridge now!" Soundwave called, sending the words even though the ship's intercom. Quickly everyone came. He and Optimus stood beside Barricade, "Now, some of you may well know the events of earlier with Barricade." Optimus' voice called out.

There was a bunch of nods, "Very well," Soundwave continued, "all of you who don't know, Barricade is one of the Ancients named Beta. She was the first femme of Primus and also once called The Last Autobot. She has Primus' own essence running through her Energon lines." He stopped, looking to Optimus who nodded, continuing, "This also deems that she must be protected heavily and remain untouched by any… wandering mechs. If any of the other Ancients find out about anything having been done to her, they will reciprocate and not in a good way.

"Also… all of you will still refer to her as a he. We must keep up the façade that Barricade is still a mech, as this will help protect her, am I understood?"

There was a round of nods, "Very well," Soundwave stepped away from the femme and reconnected with Cybertron. A hysterical Ultra Magnus was waiting, "Optimus! I lost contact with you! Did Soundwave attack you?"

Soundwave turned and looked to Ultra Magnus with an undefined glare, "Shut up, I didn't, nor did any other ex-Decepticon aboard this ship. Get it through your thick head… and soon," he turned and left, leaving a stunned Magnus. Soundwave just told him to shut up? And he spoke normally? What was going on?

"I am going to set up the meeting and gather the officers, Optimus. Ultra Magnus out." The screen went back to the stars and planets that the Ark was gliding by. Sam and Mikaela had Bumblebee up them on the dash of the ship once more where they sat back, "So, breathable oxygen a plus. Any mechs that might not step on us – a big fat negative," he stated.

"We will see to it none of them step on you, Sam," Bumblebee chuckled, "they won't go against Optimus' orders,"

Sam folded his arms behind his head, "I dunno." Sam said in a sing song voice, "The stories you guys are gonna tell them might have you all locked up in the loony bin,"

"I seriously doubt that, since nothing like that exists on Cybertron. And I doubt there will be anything of the such. However, those believing the Ancients are another story."

"Dude, that's like Jesus Christ coming back in the body of another human and the human trying to claim who he is. The government would lock him up for good."

"I see your point, we will convince them all." Bumblebee's optics shot to a couple of mechs who were still doubtful.

"Yeah, good luck with that," Sam sniffed.

"Well either they will believe us now, or have no choice but to believe us later." Barricade turned to Sam, "either way, they will get the surprise of their lives,"

"You know," Sam leaned up on one arm and looked directly at Barricade, "you suddenly being a femme is _very creepy_," He winced an eye.

"Why so?"

"Because… It just is… take it that way. It's creepy. But something I can live with," Sam shrugged. Mikaela raised a brow, "At least I am not the only female anymore. You have no idea what it is like to be surrounded by so many males, human or not." She then smiled up at Barricade who smiled back with a wink.

"_**Approaching destination. Speed reduced. Landfall will be in approximately 8 Earth hours**_." Sam looked up towards the screen as the computer spoke. Nervousness again filling his gut. He was a very long way from home and now was going to step foot on a planet not even in his home galaxy. The thought of being the first humans out of their galaxy was exhilarating. He could now see a planet in the window. It was still extremely small, but big enough that he could see all the metal and what appeared to be lava that cruised it's body. He had remembered what Optimus showed him when he first met the Autobots.

-

In the depths of space, another reverberating howl went unheard. This time the howl wasn't in anger. It was in victory. The being finally won the fight against the rift and was now free in this universe again. The first thing he did was look for nourishment before he would go for Cybertron. He knew that his two followers were well on their way to Cybertron themselves. Good. Those two could wreak the havoc needed until he got there. Things were definitely going his way now.

-

On the Starship, Vector Prime let out a cry unrivaled by any he had emitted before. Starscream was at his side in an instant, as were the others. He hadn't been knocked offline, but he was on the floor, "He's free! Unicron is free!" The guardian called in a pained voice.

"No!" It came from all of the Ancients at once, "It begins!" Starscream cried out, horrified. They had all hoped they would have had more time.

* * *

Next Chapter:_ "Starscream," Vector Prime turned to the Seeker with a glare, "did it ever occur to you as to _where_ I opened a portal _to_?"_

_The Seeker shrank back sheepishly, "Um... It shut him up didn't it?"_

_The Keeper of Time and Space pinched the bridge of his nose as the portal closed, "Perhaps you should stop to think before you throw people into random portals,"  
_


	21. Truly, Strange Conversations

A/N: _Alright. Here is the next chapter. Be prepared for some crack, cause you know.. With the twins, there's always gonna be humor. Especially when it comes to Sideswipe._

_I know, this story has been just sometimes wayyy too serious. So... Of course, the Autobots are gonna have a few things to say about their impromptu situation that they have been thrown in._

_And with that said, I am gonna go back to my little hidey hole and contemplate some more :P_

* * *

Panic was growing in the Ancients. Now they hadn't been so concerned with telling others to believe them as they were worried about finding the others. Vector Prime had rebounded and was standing on the deck of the ship, staring as Cybertron grew larger in the window. He was pleased to be seeing Primus again, but he looked vastly different.

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker meandered up next to the guardian, watching the window. Sideswipe suddenly made a sound as if he was going to speak, but was nudged by his brother. Well this only fueled the red twin as he grinned and then his face became serious, "Are we there yet?" he asked nonchalantly.

Vector Prime glanced at the twin wondering inwardly why he was even asking, "No."

Sideswipe waited a minute and then spoke again, still staring out the window right at the planet of Cybertron, "Are we there yet?"

"_No_," Sunstreaker replied this time, annoyed.

"Are we there yet?" Again the same serious tone. Sunstreaker glared at his brother, "… NO!" Sideswipe seemed to deflate, backing from the yellow warrior. Inwardly he grinned, "Are we-"

"Yes! Yes, Sides, we're there! Are you happy now?" Sunstreaker growled as he threw his arms in the air, frustrated about his hopeless brother.

Sideswipe glanced at Sunstreaker, and then to the window and his optic ridges furrowed with skepticism, he then looked back to his brother. Mocked shock crossed his features as he suddenly pointed at Sunstreaker accusingly, "LIAR!" He cried and ran from the bridge.

Sunstreaker gave a sound like an indignant sigh before looking to Vector Prime, who looked back to him, "At least it's never dull,"

"You could say that again," Sunstreaker groaned.

"_**Landfall in 2 hours,"**_ the computer said, alerting everyone as to how close it really was. The other mechs were all looking up at the window. To their lack of surprise, it all looked the same, as if Death still wandered it's form. It wouldn't be long but in his mind, even though he had lived for an unknown amount of time, these few hours were ticking away slowly. He settled his stance and stared.

-

Two hours rolled by and the Ark was slowing down as it came to approach in Iacon. The entire crew now stood on the bridge as the ship came in for a landing. There were a few Autobots on the pad waiting for them and had been given instructions to tie the ship down. As the ship landed, they all did as instructed, holding the ship still as it floated and proceeded to open the compartments on the sides and tie it down.

Optimus looked to everyone on the bridge, "This is it," he said almost solemnly as he turned and headed for the main door. Ultra Magnus was waiting outside the ship for him and he heard the hiss as the ship released its lock and the door came open. The group cheered as the Autobot Commander made his way out of the ship, followed by Starscream who was getting looks. Along with him came the other two Seekers and more Autobots, Sam and Mikaela were holding onto Bumblebee as he came out. Soundwave came out with Barricade and the twins and Vector Prime was the last. All of the Ancients stood back in a line from the rest, watching the scrutinizing glares they were getting.

"What is this?" Ultra Magnus saw the odd green optics of the ones in the line behind Optimus and tilted his head slightly before nodding towards them.

Optimus' head turned to see what he was referring to, "It's a very long story, Magnus. Have you set up the meeting I asked for?" Optimus asked.

"Yes, sir, right this way. However I am skeptical about allowing these Decepticons in,"

"You will not question these Decepticons, Magnus. They are defected. Starscream is a pure Autobot." This got the Commander strange looks, "Follow me, then Sir," Ultra Magnus waved a hand, all of them following. Still the Ancients were getting dubious glares, but they pointedly ignored them.

Moments later, Optimus and the others found themselves in a very, very large and highly decorated room with a very long table. Along the table were seats that other Autobots quickly took place at. Optimus himself moved to the head of the large table as his group of Autobots and ex-Decepticons took their seats down towards his end.

Sam and Mikaela sat on the cold surface at the end where they knew who was who. The Autobots who had never seen the humans were staring at them, making the two becoming uncomfortable. Sam wanted to make himself smaller, as did Mikaela. Finally the two scrambled to the edge of the table and looked to the closest mech to relieve them of prying eyes. Soundwave put his hand out and they clambered onto it.

The Ancients stood behind Optimus in the same line they had taken near the starship. Everyone looked to the Autobot leader to start. He looked down the line, and then nodded. Everyone of importance seemed to be here. He knew sparks were going to fly once he started explaining the strange events from earth to them.

"Alright, before I start, I know you all are wondering about what happened and why we have returned?" There was another group of nods. And this is where the story started. Optimus told about the Allspark battle on Earth, told how the Allspark was destroyed along with Megatron. This made Starscream shift uneasily behind him. Sam did the same in the palm of Soundwave.

"So the Allspark is gone?" Ultra Magnus asked in shock, his glare turning accusingly to the human.

"Yes, I am afraid so."

"Without the Allspark, there is no hope left for Cybertron – for our _existence_, Prime! Our species is doomed!"

Sam stood up from his spot in Soundwave's hand, "Listen, all of you!" He suddenly yelled, catching their attention and glares, "I made a choice! During that fight, Bumblebee had been severely damaged. Hell, Jazz was _killed_! I wasn't about to kill Optimus when he said to use the cube against him! I used it against Megatron instead!" The group from Cybertron glared at Sam, "How dare you interrupt this meeting you little – _whatever you are!_" Jetfire growled, standing to challenge the man.

"I'm a human, damn you, get it right you giant walking tin can!" Sam squeaked when Jetfire moved from his position and started for him. He was lucky to have been in Soundwave's hand. Soundwave merely glanced at Jetfire with his expressionless visor, Starscream growled and Optimus glared, "Stand down Jetfire, _NOW_!" Jetfire stopped his approach on the human, "None of you are to harm these humans!" Optimus hit his hand hard against the table, causing the group to startle, "If it wasn't for Sam and Mikaela's bravery, Megatron may well very well had gotten the Allspark," Jetfire meekly made his way back to his seat, yet he was still seething that some _organic_ was speaking to them like that.

"Now. The events that occurred after the battle of mission city is what set everything in motion." He waved Starscream to his side, "As you all well know, Starscream was Megatron's Air Commander and Second in Command. He had escaped the battle of Mission City but was shot down. A few years later, he was found, but he lost his ability to fly. He had died from that experience."

"Optimus, he's standing right there." Blaster pointed out.

"You are correct. 10 Earth years later, he was reborn as my sparkling." The room suddenly burst to life, "Impossible, Optimus! There's no way that a spark can be reborn!" Ultra Magnus stood up. Along with him Ratchet and Ironhide stood, "Magnus, it is true, I held him when I and Ironhide first found him," Ratchet looked to the City Commander. Ironhide nodded, "What Ratchet says is the truth. Believe it or not, Starscream was re-sparked."

"Just how did you even create a spark, Optimus?"

"It was complicated, using the Matrix and a shard from the Allspark that had been left over after Megatron's destruction,"

"Is that why his optics are green like those other ones?" Bluestreak suddenly asked, perking, "I mean, it sure is strange seeing green optics all the time. No one has ever seen green optics before! It's-"

Optimus put his hand up, halting the wild talker, "We will get to that, Blue," Optimus said gently, "But you all are wondering about Skywarp, Thundercracker, Barricade and Soundwave and his symbiots… Barricade managed to get them to the planet without the planets defense system shutting them down. They came on the decision that there would be no fighting. They asked to be a part of us and I did not deny them. Skywarp and Thundercracker helped greatly in the raising of Starscream." The entire room was in shock at that. Barricade kept her head down, not looking to anyone. She began to feel nervous. A shudder from her made Sunstreaker glance at her with a hiked optic ridge, her optics went to him and she shook her head ever so slightly at him and said nothing.

Optimus watched all of the Autobots faces curiously, hoping that they understood all of this. When he noticed they had, he looked to Vector Prime and Starscream. It was now time for them to explain up to date. Both mechs stepped forward, Starscream was uneasy about it, but they all knew the Autobots had to know. Ratchet and Wheeljack stood up with the two to help confirm what was about to be told.

"As you all know, me, the ones behind me and Vector Prime have green optics. This occurrence happened when Ratchet, with my permission, ran a memory extraction to find out my past. Needless to say, they found more than they bargained for, because within my memory was what is called a Silent Memory. These silent memories hide secrets beyond your wildest imaginations.

"There is a history that none of you are aware of. A history that will be rewritten once again. The Allspark was not found by thirteen construction workers like you all have heard. The thirteen you know about were part of a great war. A war that decided all of your fates today. I am one of these thirteen-"

"What?! What are you talking about Starscream?" Hot Rod asked suddenly, cutting the Seeker off. His voice wasn't the only one heard.

"What history?" Bluestreak asked, ever curious.

"This is insane!" Silverbolt bolted up from his seat, "You can't possibly expect us to believe all of this slag!"

"All of you calm down," Optimus stood, putting his hand up, "listen to what he has to say," he sat back down and nodded to Starscream, who nodded back and addressed the rest, "As I was saying, I am one of the original thirteen Primes created by Primus himsel-"

"You need your processor checked! Primus?! What is wrong with you?" Silverbolt interjected again, "Primus is a myth, same as the thirteen, Starscream! I do not know what kind of slag you are trying to feed us, but try it on someone else!"

Starscream nodded and looked down slightly, "Uh huh," he then looked at Silverbolt, pointing to Vector Prime, "does _he_ look like a Myth to you?"

Silverbolt snorted, "Just because he looks different doesn't make him some ancient myth."

"Silverbolt, one more outburst like that and I will hold you in contempt of this meeting!" Optimus all but yelled. The leader of the Aerialbots sat back down, mumbling to himself.

Starscream huffed, "Each of the original thirteen were given a duty, like Vector Prime here," he pointed to the guardian who nodded, taking the initiative to speak.

"The Ancient mechs you see here, including me and behind me are all here to help protect against what is coming. Each one has a specific job or ability which will help in the upcoming war. I am the Guardian of Space and Time. Behind me, Soundwave is the Guardian of Rarified Energon. The Twins are the first twins sparked by Primus." He looked to them who smirked and then looked back to the group, "We still don't know why they are here. Their ability is quantum entanglement.

"Barricade was called 'The Last Autobot'. As to why, I am not sure. He has the very essence of Primus running through his systems. Starscream has the ability to remotely view and the ability to use telekinesis to a limit."

By now, others were starting to doubt and started to get up ready to leave, "All of you _sit_!" Optimus demanded in a deep tone, causing the afts to sit back down immediately, "You must all hear and believe what you are being told! It is the fate of Cybertron and the universe here! There is no room for doubt!"

Vector Prime watched all of their expressions. He could tell this wouldn't go over well, "There are a few missing mechs that we have yet to have found, High CircuitMaster Boltax, The Keeper of Primus himself - who I believe had been given no name to hide his identity, Alpha Trion, The Liege Maximo, Maccadam and Prima."

"You only named twelve," Bluestreak pointed out. Vector Prime allowed himself a small smirk. It meant they were paying attention, "You are correct," he nodded.

Starscream continued, "What I have to tell you will sound crazy but... Megatron is the 13th. He is known as The Fallen. He was in league with Unicron and turned on us, nearly costing Prima his life,"

"Who's Unicron?" Ultra Magnus now asked.

"Unicron is known as The Chaos Bringer or Eater of Worlds. He is the entropy of Darkness, the opposite of Primus, and they are coming for Cybertron."

"So you want us to believe that this 'Eater of Worlds' is coming with Megatron who is supposed to be dead and these Ancient guys are going to fight him?" Starscream nodded. Warpath threw up his hands, "This sounds like a big fairytale!"

"Was it too much to ask for dead mechs to just stay dead?" Hot Rod suddenly grumbled.

"Apparently so," Starscream replied.

Optimus shook his head, "As crazy as all of this probably sounds, it is very real and very true."

"Since Soundwave's reawakening, he is able to find the other missing Ancients, given they are alive and amongst us right here." Starscream suddenly said, "It would be advisable that everyone gets one of these extractions so that we can find who we are looking for. We are not looking for Maccadam or The Fallen. But the rest are questionable, if they are not inside Primus,"

"What of Megatron, though? I thought he was killed?"

"He was. But he has been resurrected."

"How? The only one that we know of who can do anything of the sort is Soundwave." Magnus pointed out. Soundwave looked up, "It wasn't me, I assure you,"

"Unicron works in mysterious ways," Starscream let out a burst of warm air, "We can only assume he did it,"

"So you want us to undergo a memory extraction through Soundwave!? Have you fried your CPU?" yelled Warpath, "His telepathy can kill others, and you really expect us to believe that he will do this without killing us?"

"He didn't kill me," Barricade stepped forth, "I went through an extraction on the way here." Optimus put his hand up with the others were about to protest, "He will not kill anyone."

"And what do we do in the mean time? Just sit back and wait for this really big mech to show up?"

"Have the memory extractions done and continue to protect Cybertron." Optimus said and Starscream stepped forward, "Also be on the lookout for Megatron," Well that turned heads. He knew it would come, and he had to say something, "He will most likely be arriving first. Be prepared for anything."

"Forgive us if some of us find your story too farfetched to believe it, Optimus, but what you all have said here just now is… ludacris," Ultra Magnus stood, looking to the Autobot leader. Optimus nodded but Starscream spoke up, "When Unicron or Megatron arrives, you'll have no choice but to believe what we have told you. So either let it sink in, or prepare for a very big surprise. War doesn't favor those who are lucky; it favors those who are prepared,"

"Do you have any actual proof of what you're saying?" The dubious glare and question came from Ultra Magnus, his voice was clear it was a challenge to the Prime.

"Surely you wouldn't doubt Optimus' words. He has never steered us wrong or lied to us before, Magnus," This time it was Prowl. As much as he didn't care to believe about the thirteen, he would stick up for his leader.

"What is being said is inconceivable." Silverbolt stood with Ultra Magnus, "Perhaps being on that planet you call Earth messed with your processors,"

"Would you idiots try thinking outside the box for once?" Sunstreaker suddenly growled from behind Optimus. His outburst got his brother humming to himself a for a moment. Then suddenly Sideswipe put up a finger, "You know, Sunny, that sound really profound. But that begs the question; what's inside of the box when you're in there?"

A long awkward silence filled the room as everyone was now staring at the red twin. He shrugged and gawked back, "What?"

"I see you're playing the stupid game again, Sideswipe," Rumble sneered as he peeked his head from his compartment, "and it l-l-looks l-l-like you're win-n-nning t-t-too!" Frenzy followed suit with a snicker.

A loud clank filled the room. Ironhide put his hand to his forehead and shook it, "Permission to shoot Sideswipe?"

Optimus held back a smirk, "Permission denied,"

Sunstreaker facepalmed with a loud burst of air from his vents. Sometimes he just couldn't believe the crap that came out of his brother's vocal processors, "You must have taken great pains, bro; you could not have been naturally sparked _so _stupid."

"The only real proof we have is the optic change and Vector's ability to use his sword to cut a hole in time and space." Bumblebee shrugged after the long pause in the room. He remembered that part well.

All optics went to Vector Prime and his face twisted into a slight grimace, "If you must all see," he said and backed up, unsheathed his sword and held it out in front of himself. He them spoke in some tongue that no one but Starscream understood and brought the sword up and sliced it downwards. The weapon glowed a bright white as it passed through the air. When he was done with the swing, he waved towards the gaping black hole that was left in its wake, "Any questions?"

"That could be some sort of illusion!" Skydive suddenly said. And perhaps it was the wrong thing to say, because Starscream sudden went to him and grabbed him and picked him up by his wings and walked to the hole and threw him into it, "Any doubts now?" he glared to everyone who were all shocked at the display.

"Starscream," Vector Prime turned to the Seeker with a glare, "did it ever occur to you as to _where_ I opened a portal _to_?"

The Seeker shrank back sheepishly, "Um… It shut him up didn't it?"

The Keeper of Time and Space pinched the bridge of his nose as the gate closed, "Perhaps you should stop to think before you throw people into random portals."

And just as he said that, Skydive walked back into the room, disregarding everyone he lunged at Starscream, ready to pound him to a pulp for that stunt. The other Aerialbots were also getting up, ready to join in the fray. Optimus reached out for Silverbolt, but missed as the Aerialbot landed on Starscream and both toppled to the floor, "How dare you do that to one of our wing mates!" the Aerialbot hissed as he threw a hard fist into Starscream's chest plate. Starscream screamed as Silverbolt then clipped him in the leg. The cry got both of the other Seekers in on the fight.

The twins, enraged at someone attacking one of other own, leapt onto Skydive to pull him off, only to get Fireflight on top of them. They turned violently under the other Aerialbots and Sunstreaker grabbed onto Silverbolt and Sideswipe grabbed for Fireflight, pushing the two bots off of them enough to get a footing as they stalked towards them. Vector Prime grabbed at Slingshot who went to go after the brothers, grabbing his wing and flinging him over the table almost effortlessly, causing a gasp to go around the table. The Aerialbot slid down the table with a loud metal against metal squeal.

Air Raid headed for Vector Prime but stopped abruptly when a sword was threatening looming inches from his face. Getting an up close and personal view of how sharp the blade really was, "Back off Autobot," Vector Prime growled, flicking the blade towards Air Raid's nose plates.

The brawl was turning vicious quickly as metal against meal pounded and screeched as blows were being exchanged. Starscream shrieked as one of the Aerialbots got a hand on his wing and yanked.

The rest of the Autobots watched in horror at the display. Optimus became increasingly angry, "Cease and desist immediately!" he boomed, "All of you!" The fight continued.

"I don't think they're listening, Optimus," Bumblebee said softly. Optimus turned to the scout, "Take the humans out of here and get them to safety." Optimus pointed to the humans who were now being held up high to keep them from the fray.

Suddenly Skydive was thrown through the air by a powerful set of legs, hitting the wall behind him with such force, the wall bent inwards. Starscream made it to his feet and glared at the Aerialbot as a snarl emanated from him, "You're a fool," he hissed. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker held onto Silverbolt and Fireflight, pressing them against the wall with their own weight, their gleaming green optics flaring threateningly.

"This has gone on far enough!" Optimus chided. He walked to Silverbolt and grabbed him by the top of his chest plate and pulled his face to his, "Get a handle on your team, Silverbolt before they end up killed!" Silverbolt's optics went to each of his team mates. Each one was being held at bay except Slingshot who was now sitting cross legged on the table.

"Make your _Ancients_ stand down, Optimus," Silverbolt sneered as he glared right back at the leader.

"I do not believe the Ancients started the fight,"

"Starscream threw Skydive into that portal! Primus only knows where it lead to!" the Combiner leader crowed.

Optimus pushed Silverbolt backward and into the wall, "I am not held responsible for the Ancients," he turned.

"Someone should be," Silverbolt pushed himself off the wall with what dignity he had left and began dusting himself off, "lest they end up dead,"

Starscream glared at Silverbolt and then snickered, "Ha! As if!" and turned to the other two Seekers, nodding for them to back off. Silverbolt only glanced at his team mates and they lowered their own weapons and hands. Starscream nodded to the others who had the Aerialbots and the Ancients let them go, backing up from them.

"Now that this meeting has been utterly ruined," Optimus glared at both Skydive and Starscream, "it is officially over. I am getting a headache from all of this." He put his hands to his face, "dismissed," he said gently and walked out. The rest of the Autobots got up, intent on leaving while Starscream turned to Soundwave, "We need to speak to the Decepticons,"

"The Autobots hardly even believe us, Starscream, what makes you think the Decepticons will? If anything, they'll shoot you!" Sideswipe growled.

"Thundercracker, Skywarp and Soundwave, we will go and speak to the Decepticons about this," he let out a loud burst of air, "we will deal with them if they become violent."

"Shockwave will be our biggest problem," Skywarp mentioned as he made his way to the door.

Vector Prime watched them go and turned to the twins and Barricade, "We need to find Maccadam and Boltax, given Boltax has not been reborn. Let's go,"

Barricade perked and rushed from her spot, going to the door and out as soon as she could. Sunstreaker stared after her, confused at her actions. He shook his head as his brother walked up beside him.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe both put their hands up at the mention of Maccadam, "Haha! We will help you find Boltax, but _you_ and Barricade can go find Maccadam all you want. We rather stay here, thank you,"

* * *

_Next Chapter: "Well then, I guess we could all start shooting each other. Then there's Energon, death, hard feelings, nothing accomplished... trust me, it'd suck." _


	22. Try Explaining THAT to the Decepticons!

**A.N:** _When one doesn't sleep does their brain melt? I am still pondering this, along with other mysteries of the Multiverse.  
_

**"Bold"** - Cybertronian

* * *

The Seekers and CCS took to the skies once they left the building. Starscream knew where to find the Decepticons, and it wasn't long until they got to Kalis. All four of them landed quickly in the middle of the city, peering around for any life. They started walking towards the command center. They hadn't gotten very far before they were stopped by Astrotrain, **"Starscream!"** he called out, catching the attention of three other Seekers who started to head in their direction, curiosities piqued, "What in the Pit are you doing here?!" his optics shifting to the CCS as well, "Soundwave? I thought you were all stationed aft!"

"**Astrotrain,"** Starscream put a hand up, halting the mech, **"where is Shockwave?"**

"**Inside, but that doesn't matter."** Astrotrain's optics went to the insignia on Starscream's shoulder,** "Why in Primus do you have an Autobot insignia? Have these three brought you as a prisoner?"**

Soundwave stepped forward, **"No. We are with him. We need to speak to Shockwave, given he is still Commander of Kalis,"**

"**What happened to your voice, Soundwave?"** Dirge called out as he approached with the other two seekers. Soundwave didn't answer, his green optics blinking behind his red visor.

Starscream turned his head slightly as he watched the three Seekers approach from behind. He took up where Soundwave would not answer, **"Astrotrain, I am the Autobot and Decepticon Air Commander now,"**

"**Impossible, how can you be both?"** None other but Astrotrain and the other three Seekers saw Blitzwing coming up behind the four intruders until the triple changer lunged and pounced on Starscream. The sudden attack caused Starscream to topple, landing hard on his side. Thundercracker and Skywarp reached for Blitzwing to pull him off but Blitzwing brought up his cannon from his shoulder, spun it and fired at both of the Seekers, such close range knocking them both backwards in pain, **"Where is Megatron you traitorous scum!"**

Starscream growled under the weight of the bigger Decepticon as he tried to push him off. Blitzwing grabbed the Seeker's already damaged wing and twisted violently before pulling. Starscream let out a cry that would be heard throughout the city as sensitive sensors and wires were torn and ripped. The pain making him dizzy, **"Get off of me Blitzwing!" **Starscream yelled as he struggled against him. Astrotrain stood back and watched the scuffle, his arms folding as he looked to Soundwave, **"Aren't you going to help your friend? Blitzwing might terminate him."** Soundwave's visor went from the fight to Astrotrain, **"I assure you, he does not need my help," **

As Soundwave finished his sentence, Starscream had grabbed a hold of Blitzwing's chest armor and pushed up, his Null Rays emerging from their subspaces and he winked at Blitzwing before Firing directly at his chest several times. Blitzwing screamed and pulled himself off and back, stumbling before falling backwards on his aft. Starscream knew he hadn't done any permanent damage and slowly went to stand, stumbling a couple of times, but righting himself immediately.

Blitzwing hissed as he reached for sparking and sizzling wires. He glared up at Starscream, **"How… did you become so powerful, Starscream?"**

"**It's a long story, Blitz. Now let us by, Astrotrain, there is much to discuss about an incoming war that involves that Autobots and Decepticons."** Thundercracker answered for the injured Seeker. Skywarp was already looking to tend to Starscream's wounds, lightly touching them, causing Starscream to shudder and flinch under the touch.

"**Assuming, of course, all of the Decepticons will hear us out,"** Skywarp finally added, not looking from the injury of his wing mate.

"**And if I don't?"** Astrotrain asked with a hiked optic ridge, **"You're apparently Autobot sympathizers. And of all of them, you Soundwave?"** Soundwave only shook his head as Astrotrain ranted, **"Why should **_**any**_** Decepticon listen to you?"**

Skywarp gave a sound like a sigh with a shrug, **"Well, I guess we could all start shooting each other. Then there's Energon, death, hard feelings, nothing accomplished... trust me, it'd suck."**

Astrotrain considered Skywarp a long moment, **"Fine, you four come with us and if what you say sounds viable, then all Decepticons will hear about it,"** Astrotrain said with doubt as he turned, **"Thrust, Dirge, Ramjet, follow them,"** the triple changer ordered. The three huffed, being ordered by him but complied.

About 10 minutes later, Starscream, Skywarp, Thundercracker and Soundwave found themselves in familiar territory. Starscream mused that the last time he had actually step foot in this place he was still a Decepticon. It was kind of funny to him now that he knew why. They stood in a main room, looking around waiting for the Commander of Kalis to be alerted to their presence. Astrotrain disappeared down a corridor as Dirge, Thrust and Ramjet watched over them.

Astrotrain returned a few moments later, waving the four on. The three Seekers followed, still curious to their Commander's change, **"Shockwave said he will see you now."** The four started towards him and headed to the main Commander Center, where they were greeted by the Military Commander himself, **"What is the reason for this most odd visit?"** Shockwave asked as he stared down the mechs, **"Surely you have an explanation for all of… this?"** he waved his hand out for emphasis at them.

"**Of course we have an explanation, Shockwave. It's whether you believe us is the tricky part,"** Starscream said. Already the one eyed commander seemed to doubt them, **"Go on,"** he said at length.

Starscream proceeded to tell him the same story that Optimus had told the Autobots. Then he proceeded to tell about the Ancients, himself and Soundwave. Shockwave was listening with interest, however much he did not believe, **"So you want the Decepticons to join with the Autobots for this war that is coming?"** Starscream nodded.

"**We aren't interested in a war between the Autobots and Decepticons. There's no reason for war, and we know as well as you do that the Decepticons are getting tired of the war themselves."** Thundercracker spoke up. Shockwave nodded at the blue Seeker. He did have a point.

"**This sounds illogical by all means, Starscream."** Shockwave shook his head.

"**So I take it as a no?" **Starscream asked as he folded his arms across his chest roughly.

"**I am deeply bothered by what you have said. I do not think I believe such a story as you claim."**

"**Trust us, Shockwave, he's not lying. And time is running out."** Soundwave suddenly said. He got turned heads, **"What happened to your dialect?"**

"**I was awoken,"** the mech replied simply.

"**And if I order the Decepticons to attack you on sight?"** Shockwave challenged.

Starscream stepped forward, **"Then we will continue the fight until its final stupidity or we call a truce. Now if you will not join with us, we will go and find Decepticons that will. We need all the help we can get." **

"**And if they refuse and choose to fight instead?"**

"**Then there will be more Decepticons dead than there are already, Shockwave. Do not test us,"** Starscream returned the challenge, **"you're supposed to be the brains of the Decepticon faction, act like it," **he growled.

The three other Seekers were huddled as they listened. All three of them were tired of the banter between the Autobots and the Decepticons. They decided on a course of action. None of them would believe that the Seeker Leader would steer them wrong, as he never had before. They then stepped forward, **"We think we believe you. We will help you with whatever you need, Starscream." **Starscream turned and nodded, **"Good… now to convince everyone else."** The Seeker turned, followed by all of the others, including Astrotrain.

"**That was some story you told, Starscream."** The triple changer said.

"**It's all true. This pact needs to happen fast. I know a lot of the Decepticons don't want a war with the Autobots anymore and this movement will help with that. We don't have a lot of time."** The Seeker turned to Astrotrain, **"tell who you can about what is coming. If they will listen, send them to Iacon. I will give word to Optimus. Thrust, Dirge and Ramjet, come with us to Iacon."** The three Seekers nodded.

Starscream and the others took off while Astrotrain wondered how he was going to convince other Decepticons.

Starscream got to Iacon quickly with the others and took them into the main building where Optimus was. Optimus turned from his desk and looked up, "Starscream," he said gently, nodding to the other Seekers with him.

"Astrotrain is going to speak to the other Decepticons. Shockwave doesn't believe us, of course."

"I didn't think he would. You know he works on pure logic. If something doesn't seem logical for him, he won't do it,"

"I think he might come around." Starscream then grinned, "Especially when Unicron does show up. His battle logic will tell him to, since he was left to protect the Decepticon cities of Cybertron by Megatron himself. He won't allow anything to happen to it, and thus will find only logic in attacking."

Optimus then shifted his optics to the three Seekers standing beside Starscream, "And you believe what Starscream has said?"

Thrust stepped forth, speaking for all three when he realized they were being addressed, **"What is this language you are speaking?"**

Starscream grumbled something, then replied, **"You're close enough to Teletraan One, download it from it. It's called English."**

It took a few moments for the three to download the needed information, "Now can you repeat what you said?" Dirge asked.

"I had asked if you three believe Starscream,"

Thrust nodded, "Optimus Prime, we will believe him. He has never steered us wrong before, so there is no reason that he would now. I know things are different and albeit strange, that is why we will believe it. His optics are different, he claims to be the Autobot and Decepticon Air Commander, and Soundwave is even talking different."

"I'm glad you have decided to help us," Optimus gave a small smile, "Will you three allow Soundwave to perform an extraction?"

All three seekers nodded.

-

Elsewhere on Cybertron, Vector Prime flew on with three cars following him. He was headed right for the old Oil House. He knew that Maccadam's warp gate still stood there that would bring him to the Bar that he needed to get to. Of course, getting there would prove more difficult, as the four would soon learn. The surface had changed a lot since the last time he had seen it. As they traveled on, his memory came back to him slowly. Maccadam was somewhere deep down near Vector Sigma, and he remembered how to get there, "We need to go down where Vector Sigma is," he called over a comm. link to his three followers.

"We can get there from the outskirts of Tyger Pax." Sunstreaker said, hitting the brakes.

"You're sure?" Vector Prime slowed as he turned.

"I remember now, Vector. My HUD has switched back to our ancient tongue as well." Sunstreaker replied, "The entrance is at the same city that the Allspark was kept before we launched it into space to get it away from Megatron,"

With any hope Boltax would be down there as well. All four headed Tyger Pax, which wasn't all too far from Iacon itself.

When they got to Tyger Pax, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe noticed immediately how desolate the city was. No one lived here anymore, as if it hadn't been touched since the Allspark was sent into deep space. The pair sighed as they drove through the city, hunting for the elevator that led down to Vector Sigma. When they found it, they found it had been buried. All four of them transformed and started digging through the mess.

It took about 2 hours to finally reach the elevator shaft and they found it locked. Vector Prime put his finger to it and transformed it into the key needed and opened it. The twins let out a relieved sigh as the doors creaked open. It took a few moments for them to open fully, giving view to nothing but a shaft, "You know… it's as if someone doesn't want us to get down there!" Sunstreaker growled.

"That's the whole point – I will go, since I can fly. You three remain up here and keep an eye out, no one else should know about this place."

"No one is even here, Vector!"

Vector Prime puckered an optic ridge at Sunstreaker then turned for the shaft as he transformed, "Wish me luck."

-

Sideways, Galvatron, Bonecrusher, Blackout and Brawl all appeared from the trans-warp gate that Sideways had supplied only a few planets away. Galvatron smirked evilly, his memory banks supplying him with all of the information that had been shrouded from him since he had first turned and worked for Unicron. He currently let his mind wonder as to what devastation he could wreak once he got to Cybertron.

"The other 12 should be awake as well," Galvatron mused, mostly to himself.

"I believe they are, Galvatron. That is the only reason that your Master would need you."

"This should be most, fun, yes," Galvatron boosted ahead, anxious to get to Primus and take down those that would cause problems for Unicron once he got there.

Deeper and still a bit of a distance from Cybertron in Andromeda, a planet the size of the Sol System's Jupiter had exploded and been devoured. It's core being taken into the Chaos Bringer as he absorbed it and used it for fuel, since Rarified Energon was of little supply until he got near Primus where he knew he could get it easily once he destroyed him. Around his great body, a large ring lit up and the rest of him lit up as well, showing he was fully charged and ready for his trip.

Unicron knew it would be a while before he got to where he was going, and he would take his time. What was a few more galactic turns? A few more star cycles? He knew that Galvatron and Sideways would get to Primus first to start the Chaos and lessen the trouble for him and he would be there to finish it and that is what mattered.

* * *

_Next Chapter: "You couldn't get a clue during a clue mating season in a field of horny clues even if you were smeared with clue musk and did the clue mating dance!"_


	23. High CircuitMaster Boltax

**A/N:** _Yay, update time :P _

_Now you all get to meet Boltax. Now, I know some of ya may be familiar by who he is, and I stuck with him for the most part. Not all of it, cause well... Yeah, happening my way!_

* * *

Deep down in the core of the planet, life still resided without knowledge of its existence. It was meant to be this way, to hide the secrets of so long ago. To protect those that protected. To prevent unknown power from falling into the wrong hands.

On Vector Prime flew.

It had been known that the Matrix of Leadership held all of the knowledge of the previous Primes. Where Vector Prime headed now, the Matrix of Leadership paled in comparison. One mech had been given the duty of watching over the Underbase, which was compiled of all the knowledge of the Cybertronians. They always say that knowledge is power, so it had to be protected and protected well. The mech was called High CircuitMaster Boltax.

Boltax knew well what he protected. The vast knowledge was enough to shatter reality, and he knew he would also need help with his endeavor. He had appointed four disciples to guard the outside of his temple. So if anyone came, especially Autobot or Decepticon, they would be swiftly turned away or destroyed.

High CircuitMaster Boltax stayed beneath the surface during the wars, watching as the Civil Wars broke out. He had decided then that he wanted no part of the war. He knew that the Autobots were trying to protect the Allspark when they shot it into space, so he did not condemn them for a rather, what he considered, a stupid move.

The Keeper of Time and Space continued to fly on. His wings nearly hitting the sides of the elevator shaft as he headed further down into the planet. Unlike the Autobots and Decepticons, he knew about the temple and knew that he would not be refused a visit to the Keeper of the Underbase. He followed instinct as he slowed down to take a different shaft that turned to the right.

Vector Prime knew he was getting close because lights started to flicker at the end of a second shaft. He slowed down to a near crawl as he scanned and slowly moved through the narrow space until the lights were bright enough that he wouldn't need his own headlights to see. As he got to the exit, he started to transform as that when he exited he was ready to talk to Boltax.

What he hadn't expected were four guardians to be standing there aiming their weapons at him, **"Stand down, I am here to speak to High CircuitMaster Boltax!"** Vector Prime called out, but the guardians didn't heed his words. Instead they took a step forward. Both kept their optics trained on him, **"You are neither Autobot nor Decepticon. Why are you here?" **

"**I must speak to the Guardian of the Underbase immediately."** Vector Prime pulled out his own weapon preparing to defend himself in case the guardians became hostile, **"Where is Boltax?"**

"**Welcome to my temple Vector,"** He heard a voice and looked up. A rather tall 52 foot silver and golden colored Mech walked out of the temple and looked down at him, **"why have you come?"** The four guardians put their weapons down immediately.

"**Boltax, you have been down here collecting data since Primus went to sleep. Surely you must know what is going on,"**

"**Are you speaking about the war between the Decepticons and the Autobots? I will have no part in their petty fights,"**

Vector Prime shook his head, **"No,"** He sheathed his sword, **"I imagine they are working out their differences as we speak,"**

"**Then what brings you all the way down here? Surely you don't seek knowledge from my Underbase,"**

Vector Prime scrunched up his face plates in confusion, "**Of course not! Have you not felt the vibration in your spark? The vibrations from the other Ancients that have awoken?"**

"**I have,"**

"**Then you must also know that Primus is in danger!"**

"**I had a feeling something like that was at hand."** the CircuitMaster said, kneeling down slightly, **"Care to explain to me?"**

"**Boltax, the Chaos Bringer has returned. Somehow he managed to escape his prison and he has brought The Fallen back to life. I trust they are on their way here as we speak."**

"**Then we are being called to stop Unicron's reign once again?"**

"**Yes. I have yet to have found Alpha Trion, Prima, The Liege Maximo and The Keeper, but Soundwave has been helping by searching within the sparks and memories of the bots."**

"**I will come with you,"** Boltax turned and looked to the Guardians, **"No one gets in,"** he said simply. The guardians nodded as he started to follow Vector Prime. As he transformed, himself, he took on his old appearance of a long nosed ship of sorts as Vector Prime took off into the shaft, aiming for the exit.

Sideswipe, Sunstreaker and Barricade peeked into the shaft as they heard the sounds of engines, "You think he was successful?" Sideswipe whispered. Just as he finished his question, two bodies came from the shaft and transformed as soon as they exited. The twins and Barricade stared at Boltax a long while, **"It has been a very long time,"** Barricade nodded to the Keeper.

"**Yes it has, Beta-"**

"Barricade," this time the femme chose English instead. Boltax raised an optic ridge in question at the change of tongue.

Vector Prime realized immediately what had the CircuitMaster so confused, **"Boltax, this dialect is called English. I suggest you download it from one of us. All of the Autobots have learned it and have been using it."**

Boltax nodded as he offered his wrist to Vector Prime. It didn't take long for the download and he turned to Barricade to finish what he was saying.

"-_Barricade_. Vector has told me about Unicron and The Fallen's return. We cannot allow him to win this time around either. I will do all I can," the Keeper spoke gently.

"Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, take him back to Iacon. I am going to go and find Maccadam. Barricade, will you join me?"

"Of course, Vector," the femme nodded. Boltax transformed once more as the twins did the same as they guided him back to Iacon.

-

Soundwave had been down in Ratchet's Medical bay with a line that seemed to go on forever. Quite a few mechs were nervous or outright refused to go. It was on Prime's orders to have the extractions done but some of the Autobots did not trust Soundwave, even after seeing him complete an extraction, albeit unsuccessfully finding any Ancients thus far, and he had gone through at least 15 of them, starting with the ones from Earth. Ratchet and Wheeljack stood by in case he needed help. If the Autobots wouldn't come, then Ratchet would threaten them with endless insults or threaten them with physicals or virus scans until they finally would allow Soundwave to touch them. Soundwave himself was beginning to tire from all of the extractions, but he would not speak of it, knowing that finding the Ancients was of utmost importance. Rest be slagged.

-

Starscream had been with his trine while the other three Seekers had been sent down to get extractions. Thundercracker and Skywarp now refused to leave his side, even when he had said they didn't need to hound him. They wanted to make sure nothing happened to their wing mate, and seeing how he was attacked so often, they wanted to protect him. Needless to say, it started to grate on the Air Commander's nerves.

Optimus looked away from staring out the window when he felt the distinct feeling that Starscream was annoyed, "Something wrong Starscream?" he asked casually.

"No," Starscream growled through clenched teeth, shooting both Thundercracker and Skywarp a look, "I'm… fine,"

"Sure sounds like it," Thundercracker noted.

"You know what, you two…?" Starscream suddenly turned to both of the Seekers, "You couldn't get a clue during the clue mating season in a field full of horny clues even if you were smeared your body with clue musk and did the clue mating dance!" He snarled, "Now would you both just go and find something to do?!"

Both Thundercracker and Skywarp gasped at the comment, "Uh... yeah, sure, 'Screamer, what would you have us do?"

"Go get an extraction for all I care, just get out from under my armor for a few breems!" Starscream pointed towards the door furiously, the pair of Seekers nearly tripped over each other as they scrambled out.

-

The twins and Boltax made it in record time to Iacon. They came across Decepticons mulling around the headquarters with Autobots guarding them. Both Sunstreaker and Sideswipe forced the Autobots back and allowed the Decepticons into the building.

"Sunstreaker! Those are Decepticons**!"** A sudden voice called out.

"They are Cybertronian, aren't they?" the twin growled.

"Yes, but-"

"No buts, you dolt. We will need the help of the Decepticons, sides be slagged. Get it through your thick processors. No Decepticon is to be attacked or turned away, do I make myself clear?"

"And who are you to be giving orders?"

"Someone who will make quick work of you if you don't knock off your shit!" He turned to the Decepticons who still seemed weary of going and nodded to them to head in, **"Soundwave and Ratchet will be in the Medical Bay. Please stop there first, and then await further instructions,"**

It had been a very long time since the twins had seen it and infinitely long since Boltax knew it was built. The twins waved him on and they entered, walking in and near the Medical Bay just to see someone running from it and get yanked back in. The twins stopped and a curious Boltax also stopped to peek in. Next thing they knew, the mech got a wrench thrown at his head. Boltax jerked his head back, somewhat amused, "What's going on in there?"

"its hit-on-the-head lessons in there," Sideswipe thumbed as he proceeded for Optimus' office, the other two following.

"Whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stranger," Sunstreaker noted offhandedly.

"Don't you mean _stronger_?" Boltax corrected.

"You have been caged way too long CircuitMaster," Sunstreaker sniggered, his brother following with a snicker of his own.

It hadn't taken long for them to get to the main doors, passing two scurrying Seekers. Sunstreaker looked to his brother who only shrugged before going to the main doors and opened them. Optimus turned, seeing the mech and nodded. Starscream's jaw dropped, "Boltax!"

Optimus tilted his head slightly, "Another Ancient?" he asked.

"Yes, Prime, he's High CircuitMaster Boltax, Keeper of the Underbase,"

"Underbase? What's that?"

"It's a mass data storage system;" the CircuitMaster said softly, "Vector has filled me in on what's going on,"

"We still need to find the others before we are even near prepared, Boltax," Starscream said with a shake of his head.

"The only one I am not looking forward to seeing is Liege. We all know what he may do." Boltax growled.

"Liege?" Optimus asked, curious. He had only read the name, but no one really spoke of him.

"The Liege Maximo – he was created the same time as Prima – though it was thought to have been an accident. Consider him the very first Decepticon. He was around even after the war with Unicron and even may had been a part of why Megatron turned on you. If I am not mistaken, he may very well have killed Sentinel Prime. I am not sure where he is now, or if he has been reborn, since no one has seen him in a very long time."

"And this guy works for Primus?" Optimus asked, confused.

"Not anymore. He considers both Unicron and Primus rivals." Boltax shook his head, glancing at Starscream, "Vector Prime told me that not all of the Ancients have been recovered as of yet. Alpha Trion still guards Vector Sigma. He is one you do not have to worry about awakening, Starscream,"

"That's good to know," Starscream nodded, "Soundwave has been working on finding the others as we speak. So far, none have come through yet," he then smirked, "even if Ratchet has to drag them back into the med bay because they are afraid or do not believe what we are telling them,"

"What are you saying?"

"Oh, Vector failed to tell you?" Starscream's optic ridges shot up in amusement, "All of the Cybertronians know nothing of their history. They were fed a book of lies. They know nothing of us and know nothing about the history that we created. Only what was fabricated for them."

"That's odd," Boltax tapped his chin gently in thought, "I recollect everything. Surely I would have knowledge of this fake truth they were told,"

Starscream only shrugged.

"Have you already gone through the process, Optimus Prime?"

Optimus shook his head lightly, "No, not yet,"

"Perhaps you should," There was a small glint in Boltax' optic.

-

Galvatron slowed down as he saw Cybertron in his scanners, "There it is," he hissed with a gentle tone, "When we get there, you are free to do whatever you wish to whomever you wish,"

"Do you have a plan of attack?" Blackout asked as he also slowed down.

"In fact, I do – a few actually. I want you all to keep the Ancients busy while I hunt down the key,"

"How do we identify the Ancients?"

"They all have green optics. I don't care who you kill to get to them,"

"What are you going to do, Galvatron?"

"I and Sideways are going to get the key before they awaken Primus. If they don't have the key, Unicron will have an easy time destroying the Light Bringer."

"It shall be done, Galvatron." And they all continued on their path, prepared to take on whoever got in their way.

* * *

_Next Chapter: "Wow, not only did life prove it's a bitch, it has puppies!"**  
**_


	24. The Liege Maximo

A/N: _It's my time to annoy you now. Go to this site and vote for New Beginnings. You know you loved it :P http://www. audiofanfic. com/?p=654 Sorry I haven't bee naround much, been uber busy with shit lol_

_Forbidden by Law can be found here as well (wow that was fast). http://www. audiofanfic. com/?p=507  
_

_*snickers* Jetfire has a cane... Yes, JETFIRE! WTF...? *snickers s'more*  
_

_Anyways, to continue... *still snickering*  
_

* * *

Decepticons were piling up at Iacon. None of them were harmed, and a lot were asking questions. Some even being told to go to Iacon and await instructions there. None were told the full story behind why they were there, but some had heard it had to do with Starscream and Soundwave. Some were a little more vicious with the Autobots who were on guard, but nothing really got out of hand. Starscream stepped outside when he had seen the gathering from the window in Optimus' office. He looked about all of the Decepticons. Of course, it didn't take long for someone to start on him.

"**Starscream, just what is going on?"**

"**Everything will be explained in better detail. The most you all need to know is that there is a war coming that requires both Autobot and Decepticons to work together. Clear?"**

"**But what if we don't want to work with the Autobots?"**

"**Then I'll personally feed you to Unicron."**

"**Who's Unicron?"**

"**Our mutual enemy. Same as The Fallen. He is disguised like Megatron. Do not let this fool you, because it is not the Megatron you all used to know,"**

"**This could b a ruse, Starscream. How do we know you're not trying to turn us against Megatron for your own benefit? It isn't unlike you to try something like that."**

Starscream pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh, **"Just… just trust me, alright? He will kill you."**

"**I don't believe one slagging word of it."**

Boltax walked outside a few minutes later, looking at all of the Decepticons, "Are you ready Starscream?"

"Yes," the Seeker replied, glancing at the group again, **"All of you will see Soundwave before you leave, am I understood?"**

"**Yeah, sure… whatever,"**

"Come, Starscream, the sooner that we find Alpha Trion, the sooner we can prepare." Boltax and Starscream both transformed and bolted, leaving the confused Decepticons.

A few moments later, Soundwave emerged from the building, looking over all of the Decepticons. Questions start to fly faster than he can answer them and he put up his hand, stopping them all in mid sentence, **"First of all, learn English. Download it from Teletraan One. Second, all of you will go to the medical bay for -"**

"Wait, Ratchet's Medical bay? Frag you!" Vortex went to leave.

Soundwave growled, "Unless you prefer to deal with Hook?"

Vortex deflated immediately upon the choices he was offered.

Soundwave waited to see if anyone else was prepared to complain before continuing, "To continue – a physical and memory extraction and as soon as everyone is gathered and Vector returns, everything will be explained," He peered to everyone as they gave him curious glances, "and before I forget, you all are to download the file called English. That will be the universal language we will use to communicate vocally," He turned at that and walked in, the line following.

-

A few hours later, Sam and Mikaela sat in the Ark, away from all of the busy mechs so they could have some time together peacefully. They had long gotten tired of the Cybertronian language and decided that hanging out in the Ark for now was just the thing to do. Both of them had grabbed something to eat from the trailer which was still parked in the storage bay.

"Hey, Mikaela, what do you think is gonna happen when all this goes down?"

"Well hopefully we don't get stepped on in the process," Mikaela bit into the sandwich she had made and looked up to the main window.

"_**Unidentified incoming Cybertronians,"**_ Teletraan suddenly said, alerting the two humans.

_Unidentified?_

"Teletraan, bring it up on the main window," Sam sat straight up as he saw 5 strangely designed aircraft – definitely Cybertronian. On the second window, there was what appeared to be a metal planet with a large glowing ring. Sam hiked a brow, "Teletraan can you give a better view of the one on the second window?"

"_**Negative, the distance is too far, yet."**_

"Well then what is it?"

"_**It is Cybertronian,"**_

"Wow, helpful… Any other information than that?"

"_**It is about the circumference of Cybertron,"**_

"Holy shit! That can't be right!" Sam jumped up to his feet, "Teletraan get me Ultra Magnus or Starscream or someone! Hurry!"

"Wow, not only did life just prove it's a bitch, it has puppies too!" Mikaela remarked as she gawked at the giant.

"_**Connecting to Optimus Prime's office. One moment."**_

A few seconds later, Optimus voice filled the Ark's bridge, _"Yes, Teletraan One?"_ He asked.

"Teletraan patch me through," Sam demanded.

"_**Very well,"**_ A few clicks later and Sam called out Optimus' name. Optimus replied, surprised to hear the human, _"Sam, what's wrong?"_

"My God, Optimus! Something is coming and it's huge!"

"_What are you speaking of, Sam? Calm down!"_

"No, really! There's like 5 mechs and then there's a really fucking big one coming!"

"_What!?"_ Starscream's voice cut in along with one he hadn't heard before, _"What does the big one look like?"_

"Well, Teletraan said it's the size of Cybertron itself and it has a huge ring-"

Sam was cut off with a crash and then the sounds of jet engines, "Christ, Optimus, what the fuck _is_ that?"

"_I don't know, did Teletraan give you any information on the 5?"_

"No, only said that they were-" Sam was cut off again, this time by two sets of feet inside the ship as Starscream made his way to the bridge.

Starscream looked up and gasped, immediately hitting his knees, "No…" he whispered, "No… not yet. please, no… not now!"

"Starscream what is it?" Sam asked as he also saw another mech he had never seen. He looked… old, "And who the hell is that?"

"That's… That's Unicron," the unknown mech spoke, "And I am Alpha Trion,"

Sam and Mikaela's heads whipped back around and their eyes widened, not even taking in introductions, "_That's_ a fucking _mech_?!"

"Yeah, yeah it is,"

"Holy shit, Starscream, you need to tell everyone!"

"What do you think I _have been_ doing?" the Seeker asked sarcastically, "We haven't even found The Keeper or Prima yet and Vector is off hunting down Maccadam," Starscream let out a loud burst of air, "Teletraan, how long until the 5 arrive?"

"17 cycles and counting. The larger one will be here in 7 stellar cycles,"

-

Not far away, a grumbling Ironhide sat down on the berth of the medical bay. As much as he didn't want to, he was ordered to get a memory extraction done as well. Soundwave got up behind him and prepared to connect, "You swear you won't kill me, Soundwave?"

"I'll try not to," The mech replied nonchalantly as he connected the first of the snake-like appendages to Ironhide's helm. He then took a hold of Ironhide's arms, forcefully, causing Ironhide to jerk his arms, but Soundwave held tightly, "Hey, what gives?"

"I need to keep a tight hold on you in case you convulse. It's part of procedure."

"I don't like this,"

"Shut up and open your chest plate, 'Hide," Ratchet growled.

Ironhide did as instructed, albeit unwillingly, "This is nonsense,"

"It is required to sync your memory with your Spark," Soundwave said calmly as he connected the second appendage to Ironhide's Spark. Ironhide lurched, "Frag you! No one said anything about pain!"

"Hmm… It must have slipped my mind," Ratchet grinned.

"You know what, Ratchet…? The terrifying power of the mech sex drive is horrifically demonstrated by the fact that someone was willing to spark you," Ironhide snarled just before Soundwave put him into stasis.

Ratchet simply shook his head with a chuckle.

Soundwave went silent as he rummaged through Ironhide's memory. After all of the extractions, he hadn't expected this one to be any different, but to his surprise, it was.

He brought up the third appendage he used to disable the firewall, and he was immediately flooded with images. Images he didn't like. Images that made him immediately disconnect and withdraw from the mech, throwing the Weapon Specialist to the floor with a clash. He snarled at him.

"Wh… what the frag, Soundwave?!" Ratchet gasped in surprise at Soundwave's outburst, "What the slag was that for?"

"The Liege! He's The Liege Maximo!"

Soundwave turned and backed up further from Ironhide's still body. He hadn't even brought him back online, leaving him there, "I cannot allow him to wake!"

"What are you talking about?!" Ratchet demanded, pointing to Ironhide, "Wake him _now_!"

"Absolutely not! He's The Liege – He's _the_ Decepticon!"

Ratchet was now, if possible, even more confused, "But… I thought there was no difference?"

"Yes, yes there is! The Liege killed Primes. He kills anyone he wishes and he does not follow under Primus! He was created when Prima was created!" Soundwave moved toward the door, "Do not bring him online as of just yet."

"Soundwave, I think you're being a little paranoid here,"

"No!" Soundwave hissed before he turned again, "Frenzy, Rumble, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Ravage eject! Now! Guard him!"

"No ejecty…" all but one ejected, "Rumble eject now!"

"No!"

"I don't have time for this!" Soundwave turned for the door as the 4 symbiots stood guard over the prone Ironhide. Soundwave bolted for Optimus' office, looking for Vector or Boltax to help him with his little problem.

-

Back on the Ark, Alpha Trion knew the degree of the danger that was coming. He glanced at the screen before looking back at Starscream, "Alright, we need Soundwave. He needs to give Primus his Energon into his spark at the core,"

"We will get on that, he still has more mechs to go through!" Starscream reasoned.

"We don't have time, Starscream, they'll be here soon!"

"We need the others!"

"You are impossible," Alpha Trion sighed and headed for the door, "hopefully he finishes before The Fallen gets here. He will be a handful without Unicron. Keep Unicron to yourselves for now. He's still a while out."

"I will," Starscream lowered his head.

-

Soundwave walked through the HQ, hunting for one of the other Ancients. He came across Barricade who was leaning on a wall next to Prime's office. She looked up when she saw him. He was rather out of place, since he had been in the medical bay all this time, "Something up, Soundwave?"

"Actually yeah, I found _him_,"

"him… him…. Him who?"

"Liege,"

Barricade pushed herself off the wall and looked at Soundwave in shock, "You can't be serious,"

"And you will never guess who it is, either,"

"Mm… Ratchet?"

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker came up the hall just as they were speaking, "What's up with you two? Ain't you supposed to be debraining mechs in the med bay, 'Wave?" Sideswipe asked.

"No… I found Liege."

"Heh, go figure. Who was he hiding in, Ratchet?"

"Wow, you guys must really have something against Ratchet. No, it's even worse,"

"There is no one else worse than the Hatchet."

"Try Ironhide,"

The hall went silent for a long moment before Sideswipe broke the silence, "Wow, that completely defines disturbing,"

"Would you shut your trap, Sides?" Sunstreaker growled, then turned back to Soundwave, "Where is he now?"

"He's still in stasis in the medical bay. All but one of the symbiots are guarding him."

"Where's the fifth?"

"Hiding," Soundwave glared at his chest, "Apparently he didn't want to… what was it he used? Ejecty?"

"…What?" Sideswipe chuckled.

"What are we going to do about Ironhide? This is going to break Optimus' spark, you know," Barricade leaned back on the wall, content that she didn't have to deal with the problem.

"I know. One of his most faithful men that would put Megatron's tyranny to shame,"

"Can't we leave him in stasis?"

"He will come out of it eventually. I say we shoot him off the planet," Sideswipe folded his arms.

Barricade shot Sideswipe a look, "You are a fine example of why some animals eat their young on some planets."

"Sideswipe, this is serious!" Sunstreaker hissed, thumping his brother in the arm.

"So who's gonna break it to the boss bot?" Sideswipe asked rubbing his now sore arm. Just as Sideswipe asked, Boltax came out of Optimus' office. He stopped at the small gathering, "Something going on?" he asked.

"Uh… well… You don't know Optimus all that well, maybe you should tell him!"

"Tell him what?"

"Tell him that Ironhide is Liege Maximo," Sideswipe then ducked and shrunk down.

"Who is Ironhide?"

"He's one of Prime's right hand mechs, one of his best friends, and his Weapon Specialist,"

Boltax casually glanced at them all and then turned and walked the other way.

"Oh, for Primus' sake!" Soundwave growled, throwing his hands in the air. He walked to the door and knocked. The door opened a moment later. Barricade and the twins followed Soundwave in.

"Where's Starscream?"

"He went to speak to Sam and Mikaela on the Ark, can I help you four?" the Commander asked, his arms behind his back.

Sideswipe stepped forward, "Uhm… boss bot, there's something you need to know."

"What is it? More bad news?"

"You could say that," Sunstreaker nodded as he watched.

"What is it then?"

"Well, you're not gonna like what we have to tell you…"

"Get on with it. The suspense is killing me," Optimus said dryly.

"Uhm.. ok… IronhideisTheLiegeMaximoandisinstasisinthemedicalward," Sideswipe said quickly and then cowered behind Soundwave, who looked at him curiously.

"Try not speaking like Blurr and repeat that slower, Sideswipe?" Optimus asked with a hiked optic ridge.

"Soundwave found out that Ironhide is an Ancient. He is The Liege Maximo," Sunstreaker glared at his brother for being so sparkling-like.

Optimus was silent as he processed the information. This couldn't be true. Not his friend, "What proof do you have?" He asked, anger lacing his voice.

"I did an extraction on him. He is currently in stasis in the medical bay under the guard of four of my symbiots."

Just then, Starscream burst into the door, "Megatron will be here in less than a stellar cycle!" he nearly yelled, almost tripping over the other Ancients standing there, "What are you guys doing up here?" he asked as he picked himself off of Soundwave and Sideswipe.

His answer came with an explosion, "Slag," And the four ran out of the room.

Starscream watched them go, curious, "What was that?"

"Apparently… Ironhide is the Liege Maximo,"

"…WHAT?!" Starscream quickly followed the other four.

* * *

_Next Chapter: "Hey, shut up, Seeker, it wasn't me!"_


	25. Approaching Dangers

_A/N: Next chappy! Enjoy!_

* * *

Alarms rang across the building. Fire sirens and emergency lights popped out of the walls. Soundwave, Barricade and the twins, followed by Starscream all came to a stop as they came to smoke. This was instantly bad sign, "You think he woke up?" Sunstreaker asked casually as he swished the smoke from in front of his face.

"Yup," Barricade agreed, peering through several different optic ranges until she could clearly see what was going on beyond the smoke.

As the smoke cleared somewhat, they also saw Ratchet, who was being suspended in the air by a hand around his throat. He was also sparking in various places, "Slag,"

"Maximo, put him down!" Soundwave growled over the sound of alarms and small explosions. A sadistic smile came over Ironhide's face, "Now that's downright creepy," Sideswipe said as he took a step forward, trying to get a better glimpse.

In that instant, he set Ratchet down, "Well, he was the next best one to accuse the explosion on, since Wheeljack ran like a bat out of hell," he grumbled. Ratchet glared at him before punching him in the arm, "What the frag was that for?!"

"Only two things are infinite, Ironhide," Ratchet stated smugly, "your stupidity and the universe, and I am not sure about the latter," he growled as he tended to his injuries.

"What is going on down here?" Soundwave asked confusedly, looking around for his symbiots.

"_Something_ exploded." Ironhide pointed out.

"That _wasn't_ my explosion." Wheeljack's voice suddenly called out from somewhere they couldn't quite see.

"Yeah, sure it wasn't… What did you do Wheeljack?" Barricade asked.

"I didn't do anything! Why is it every time something explodes, I'm the one to blame?" the CME replied with a snort.

However, Ironhide and Ratchet ignored the banter, "You're about as much fun as laser-powered razorwire, Ratchet," Ironhide rubbed his sore arm.

Ratchet then cuffed Ironhide upside the head as Wheeljack made his way around a corner, "Who in the Pit caused that explosion?"

"All of you stop!" Soundwave roared loudly as he put out his arms to silence them. As everyone's stunned optics went to him, he finally asked, "Where are my symbiots?"

"I am not sure, Soundwave." Ratchet looked up at the Keeper. He put his hand down to look in the medical bay, seeing something lying on the ground. It's black body sparking, "Slag," he whispered as he walked into the room and picked it up. He fumbled with it in his hands until he realized what or rather who it was. Just then 3 other symbiots bounded from under shrapnel. Ratchet immediately started working on the one in his hand. Soundwave allowed the other three to climb up him as his optics stared at the one in Ratchet's hand, "The explosion didn't miss him," Ratchet said as he continued to work on the four legged mech.

"Ravage!" Rumble called out.

"He will be fine, give me a minute to repair him," Ratchet said, not looking up from his work.

Starscream then came down, even if he was a little late. He glanced at the mess, "Primus, Maximo, you can't be online for 10 breems without blowing someone up!" Starscream chided.

"Hey, shut up, Seeker, it wasn't me!" Ironhide growled.

"How do we know?" Starscream asked, raising a dubious optic ridge at the Ancient.

"Because he was woken up by the blast, you jackass," Ratchet growled as he opened his hand further to allow Ravage to move. He only tightened his grip when Ravage went to leap away, "We don't know what happened,"

"So you're saying Maximo didn't attempt to kill anyone?" Starscream asked.

"No, I didn't. You're always so quick to blame me just because I might be a Decepticon doesn't mean I'm out to kill everyone." Ironhide took a step toward the Seeker, his cannons rolling.

"Ha! Ironhide, a Decepticon! Now that's classic!" Sideswipe laughed.

"Shut up you, before I weld your aft to your brother's and make you two fight as conjoined twins," Ironhide fiddled with his cannons, realizing one of them had been knocked off target by the blast.

Boltax, Vector Prime and Alpha Trion joined the group, along with Optimus, who came up behind Starscream, "So it's true? You're Liege Maximo?" Optimus asked.

"Yeah, and you know what else?" Ironhide suddenly arched an optic ridge, a frown going over his features.

"What?" Sideswipe challenged.

"I'mtakingWheeljack,bye!" Ironhide then grabbed Wheeljack by the arm and yanked him by the door to let smoke out so he could find out what really happened. He _knew_ it was Wheeljack's fault. It was _always_ Wheeljack's fault.

"Are you sure that's Liege?" Vector Prime asked, confused at his actions.

"Positive." Soundwave confirmed as he took Ravage from Ratchet and held him gently.

"Only two more, guys," Starscream turned to the others, "two more. And The Fallen will be here soon. Teletraan just picked them up on its scanners."

"What do you mean 'them', Starscream?" Vector Prime asked.

"Well, I did see The Fallen, and there were 4 other unidentified mechs with him,"

"Great," Barricade growled, "So not only do we have that dipshit to worry about, now we have 4 others? You'd think we could catch a break somewhere along the line, eh?"

"Apparently not,"

The group followed Ironhide and Wheeljack shortly afterwards, all of them standing outside. Thundercracker and Skywarp joined with Starscream once again. The Ancients all looked to the sky, "Soon, we need to prepare,"

"Epic foreshadowing, there, genius," Sideswipe folded his arms with a frown. Starscream glared at the red twin, but said nothing.

-

Coming close to the planet, Sideways, Blackout, Bonecrusher and Brawl all banked off of Galvatron, "We will keep the Autobots busy until you need me Galvatron,"

"Very well, I have to visit someone before we start on Vector Sigma," he chuckled darkly.

-

Optimus shook his head as he watched the Ancients all gathered. He was still confused about Liege, but figured that being confused about any of the Ancients was now the norm, and if he actually really understood, then by Primus, he would get his processors checked, "When will they be here?"

"In a few days, I'm afraid." Starscream still stared at the sky.

"Do you think he has a plan?"

"If he didn't, I would wonder what was wrong with him. No, he has a plan, I just wish I knew what it was,"

"Well, let's brainstorm!" Sideswipe said, "If I were an evil tyrant who was resurrected, what would I do?"

"Sides, stop while you're ahead,"

"I know what I would do! I'd go after those who pissed me off or who killed me. But that's me,"

"No, he's working for Unicron. They… may try to stop us,"

"You think he knows who we are?"

"If Unicron knows, he certainly knows."

"Well how does Unicron know? He hasn't seen us yet,"

"Sides… were you born stupid or did you go to the academy for it?"

Sideswipe huffed, "I went to the academy for it, thankyouverymuch!" He put his finger to his chin in thought, "You know, if he's working for Unicron, then he will go after Primus… wait a minute, that's it! He's gonna try to stop us from waking Primus!"

Everyone suddenly turned and looked at him, surprised. He only looked back, feeling that he may have said something wrong, "What? What I say?"

"Sides, I think you might be right!" Sunstreaker suddenly beamed, clapping his brother on the shoulder, "but what would he go after? He isn't stupid enough to go after Vector Sigma."

"Well I bet he's gonna be after us,"

"Without a doubt,"

"So what now? Do we gather all of the forces and warn them?"

"You bet,"

"Thundercracker, Skywarp, with me," Starscream leaped and Transformed, letting his trine follow suit before he blasted off, the two in tow, "we are going to hunt for stragglers in the cities,"

Bluestreak watched the Seekers go, "I will see who I can find in the bordering towns," And he headed in the direction of Praxus.

It hadn't taken long for Starscream to start finding groups of Decepticons and Autobots gathered or going about their own lives while they waited for further instructions. He landed as soon as he saw the first group, "All of you, our time is coming! Get to Iacon, spread the word! Megatron will be here soon!" The Autobots and the Decepticons who heard dropped what they were doing and bolted for Iacon. As soon as they had, Starscream and the other two Seekers took off to find more to warn.

"What do we do about the humans? They will not be safe,"

"I have an idea," Wheeljack said as he pulled away from Ironhide. He transformed and headed for the ship.

-

Sam and Mikaela both about leapt from their seats when they heard Wheeljack walk into the ship. He didn't even pay attention to them as he went tone of the consoles, "Teletraan, as soon as I exit, you are to take off. Go to the nearest planet and wait there for further instructions. Your mission is to keep the humans safe,"

"_**Confirmed,"**_

"What?!" Sam leapt from his seat, "Wheeljack!"

"I'm sorry, you two, it's the best option," he looked up seeing what appeared to be a planet in the second window. He tilted his head and pointed, "What is that?"

"Um... Unicron?" Sam hiked a brow, hoping he hadn't said anything wrong.

"Right," Wheeljack suddenly moved toward the exit, "Teletraan you are to follow orders by Sam Witwicky. Confirm."

"_**Confirmed. I will follow orders from Sam Witwicky,"**_

"Do not come back to Cybertron until the order is given otherwise by me or Optimus Prime. Confirm."

"_**Confirmed."**_

Wheeljack backed up, even as the humans started to bolt after him. He moved quickly and hit the door button as he left, then gave the hull a pound with his fist. The ship's engines started up and it began to pull at the restraints, breaking them easily as it gained power. Wheeljack backed up as he saw Sam and Mikaela pounding on the windows, "Sorry guys," he said gently. He transformed and headed back to the group, grouping in with others who were now gathering.

The ship took off not long after, disappearing into the skies, "What did you do Wheeljack?"

"I ordered Teletraan to take the humans to the next closest planet. It will not return until I or you give the orders," he nodded to Optimus who nodded back.

"Good thinking, Wheeljack,"

Wheeljack then poked Vector Prime on the shoulder, "Just exactly how big is Unicron?" he asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because the humans had him on one of the windows. And he looked big,"

"Trust me, you'll know it when you see him," Alpha Trion said gently, trying to sway the CME from Unicron.

* * *

_A/N2: Bet you didn't expect THAT from The Liege :D_

_Next Chapter: _

_ "Patience is a virtue, 'Cade,"_

_ "Not right now it isn't!"_


	26. Galvatron's Hunt

_A/N: Took long enough, huh? Barricade had my muse! I blame Barricade! Who's with me!?_

_And a great ty goes to my beta for this, Blood Shifter :D_

* * *

Skywarp had veered off from Starscream, headed to Stanix to find Decepticon stragglers that might have not heard the call of duty or ignored it.

Thundercracker headed for Polyhex. They figured, if anything, spreading out to the cities separately would find others faster.

A few hours later, Barricade had decided to join Starscream and his trine in the hunt for other 'Cons or 'Bots, and thus took off from the growing group in Iacon, determined to gather as many as she could find for their cause. She headed for Vos, knowing the streets all too well from her underground racing days. She figured she would find any that might have been hiding while Starscream searched in Altihex and the surrounding cities there. When she did find others, she sent them to Iacon with orders to follow Optimus Prime or one of the 'green optic mechs'. This is also where she found Sunstorm. She had thought all of the Seekers were back with the group in Iacon, "Sunstorm, why are you still here?" she asked.

"I was waiting for Breakdown and Dead End, have you seen them?"

"No, but I am hunting for 'Cons, perhaps we will find them on the way," She offered.

"Very well," He transformed and followed her.

"Where is the rest of the team?"

"I'm not sure," Sunstorm replied as he flew just ahead of her, "They were supposed to all meet up together in case Menasor was needed in the front lines."

"They aren't a help if their spread out!" Barricade hissed as she drove down the main street of Vos, her scanners on full as she looked for other Autobots or Decepticons that might have sought refuge here.

-

Back at Iacon, where the war was to take place, the group had gotten into the hundreds. Some doubting why they were even there, but all ready for a fight that they had been told was coming.

"You sure there is going to be a war?" Scavenger had asked, somewhat doubting any war was going to happen in the first place.

"Positive," Ironhide nudged him with an arm.

"With who?" Astrotrain suddenly asked, walking to the two to find out more information.

"Megatron and apparently 4 other groupies,"

"Why are we fighting Megatron again? He's the Decepticon Commander for Primus' sake!"

"Not anymore he isn't," Ironhide reached up and fiddled with one of his cannons, taking aim to check his target speed.

"And we really need all of us to take down 5 simple mechs?"

"I wouldn't use the word simple if I were you." Sunstreaker growled.

"This is ridiculous!" Swindle hissed.

"Everyone, I need your attention please," The Autobot Commander called out. The group started to get quieter, wondering what was up with Optimus. With him stood Vector Prime. He waited until everything calmed down somewhat, "All of you. I know you have all been briefed about the Ancients, and I know some of you still doubt what is going on, but I assure you that everything is true. There are 10 Ancients standing among you all now."

"What do you mean 10? I heard there were 13!" Mirage suddenly called out.

"That is true," Vector Prime said, stepping forward.

"Then where are the others?"

"Well, we haven't found 2 of them yet and Megatron is one of them,"

A round 'What?' was heard and he put his own hand up, "Yes, and he is the enemy. He was the enemy when he betrayed us during our first war. He is in cohorts with Unicron. Do not let him fool you!"

"This is no longer a civil war between the Autobots and Decepticons. This is a fight for your planet, a fight from eradication. Be prepared to fight for not only your cities, but your life," Vector Prime looked over the large group.

"Now, what I need now is some cooperation on all of your parts. Everyone will be sent into different groups. All fliers and Seekers, I need you all to take to the skies and circle the parameter of Iacon," Optimus called out.

"All of you without the ability to fly, I need you to stay around here. With all of us working together, they will not have a chance,"

"What about our team?" Vortex asked, concerned for his gestalt.

"Later, Vortex, we need optics and weapons in the skies right now. Starscream, when he gets back will lead all Seekers and fliers. Anything he tells you to do, do it."

"And just _why_ should we?"

"Because you'll end up dead if you don't," Sideswipe nearly growled.

-

_Iron birds of fortune  
Adrift above the skies_

Sideways, Bonecrusher, Blackout and Brawl were all on the final approach, each of them finding targets as the got closer. This is what they were built for, and they would not let Unicron down. A few more minutes. That's all they would need as they settled their sights on the front lines, "Those are the Ancients! Aim for them!" Sideways demanded.

"How do you know who's who in that mess?" Blackout asked as the four got closer.

"I just do! Now take them down! They will be the hardest to destroy!"

"Very well!"

_Cloudy revelations  
Unseen by naked eyes_

As time got closer, the Ancients moved to the front of the growing group, sensing the nearing of the enemy. Seeing them like this was certainly impressive and others watched in curiosity and awe as each one took a stance next to the other.

Vector Prime pulled out his Rhisling.

Ironhide, who hadn't had the time to synchronize his new weapon systems and HUD only used his massive cannons. Boltax brought out his own weapons, most of them on his arms, some down his body and one large, what appeared to be a rocket launcher over his left shoulder.

Soundwave only brought out his own weapons that he'd been using and set his systems up, prepared to use his deadly ability with sound to take down whoever came near him.

The twins brought out their normal weapons. Each one brought out weapons that, until now, no one even knew they had. A sword appeared in Sunstreaker's hand. It glowed a brilliant red and gold and seemed to be on fire, "hey Sideswipe," Sunstreaker called to his brother as he cocked one of his missile launchers.

"What bro?" Sideswipe asked, looking to Sunstreaker and to the sky.

"I dare you to sing 'Why Can't We Be Friends' during the battle!" his brother replied with a smirk.

"I accept that challenge!" Sideswipe cocked another one of his weapons.

"You know, Sides, you're gonna die first," Ironhide grinned.

"Hey, at least I go down fighting!"

"Did you ever stop to consider that it might not be by the hands of the enemy?"

"I hate you." Sideswipe glared.

_Flying tools of torment  
Will penetrate the sphere_

"Don't you think this is a bit excessive for taking on five enemies?" Astrotrain asked suddenly, looking across the line.

_Erupt the rock of ages  
Bringing final fear_

"Are you nuts? Each of those five are probably ten times more powerful than Optimus is himself. Do you really have to ask?" Sunstreaker lifted his word to peer at it nonchalantly.

_Instruments of destruction  
Tools of powerplays_

"Well yeah, cause there is like five of them and like fifty to a hundred of us. I say overkill to the extreme,"Astrotrain replied with a huff.

_It's a violent eruption  
Existence drips away_

"Prepare to be surprised," Ironhide cocked both of his main cannons, their ends glowing orange and blue.

_What's it really matter  
When nothing really counts_

"You know, lately there is nothing that could surprise me anymore," Astrotrain suddenly said with a shake of his head. The weird had finally made its way to Cybertron. It was only a matter of time.

"Enemy incoming at 2 o'clock!" Sideswipe called out. Immediately, everyone looked and pointed their weapons. For over a breem, everyone waited. Nothing came.

_Grave eternal darkness  
When drained of every ounce_

"Sideswipe, stop with calling out nonsense." Sunstreaker growled, "There isn't any coming yet,"

Sideswipe kept his gaze in the direction, even when everyone else groaned and kept their optics elsewhere, preparing for the enemy, "Slag, incoming!" he called again, switching his stance. Again everyone turned their weapons to where he stared. Again, nothing came, "Sideswipe, knock it-" Ironhide was about to chide Sideswipe for being wrong when a sudden blast of weapon fire went right for his shoulder, knocking him back, nearly onto his aft. Sideswipe watched him stumble, "_Now_ do you believe me?" he pointed his weapons and fired, along with everyone else.

_And when the nightmare's over  
The final from the storm_

-

"Hey, do you think they are prepared for us?" Sideways called out as they dodged the incoming lasers, missiles and bullets.

_Dust of all creation  
To ashes we transform_

"More targets to take down," Brawl yelled back as they approached. None of them seemed to get hit yet as they flew on, aiming for the group that had been gathered for them to pick apart. Bonecrusher fired at Ironhide. He hadn't expected it to hit, however, "Score!" he called out when the Weapon Specialist nearly fell backwards.

"I say they were prepared," Blackout said as he took a hard turn left to avoid getting hit. He felt the pings of bullets hit his armor.

The four moved in and out of the cannon fire as they got closer, all of them firing back, hitting some weaker bots as they pulled up. Flogging them would make this easier, especially taking out the weak ones first. They continued to strafe as they dodged bullets and laser fire.

-

Galvatron made his way over other cities and saw the planet seemed to have been cleared out. He assumed that they were all in Iacon. This would make his plan easier that was for sure and the other four could keep them busy while he hunted. He headed right for Kalis. If he knew Shockwave at all, the dolt would still be there.

On his way, he passed right over Vos and to his surprise, he saw a Seeker and a ground pounder. Just then, he got a message in his processors. His wing dipped in surprise.

"Very well," he said out loud as he slowed down and came in closer to the two going through Vos. He fired at Sunstorm, who veered upwards to avoid the fire, but not without getting clipped in the wing, causing him to leave a smoke trail in his wake.

Barricade saw Galvatron coming and flipped in the air and transformed, turning she started firing at him as he swooped over her once. She continued to fire as he took off for the skies once again. She expected him to keep going, what she didn't expect was for him to come around and aim right for her.

Had he gotten bigger than he was before?

Sunstorm turned and fired on Galvatron once more but the bullets and missiles seemed to bounce right off of him, _'Slag, what is he made of?'_ he thought to himself.

It seemed everything happened at once. Galvatron transformed and landed on Barricade's chest with his feet, causing her to hit the ground hard and snap her left shoulder mount clear off. They both slid with the force of inertia and Sunstorm transformed from jet-like mode to his robot mode. He charged at the two, using the speed behind himself and aimed for Galvatron's side to try and spear him off of Barricade, but a large clawed hand came up and swatted him away as if he was nothing but a fly.

"What have we _here_," Galvatron hissed as he looked down upon Barricade. His grin became wider, "Beta, now _nice_ it is to see you," he purred.

"Get OFF of me you fucker!" Barricade struggled hard, but his weight was just far too much for her. She tried to squirm her way out from under him but he merely squeezed her harder until she sparked at her joints as he grinned down at her.

"Well with my luck, I'll have you all before Unicron even gets here!" he hissed as stepped off of her and used his hands on her shoulders to keep her there while he got in her face.

"Then kill me already and get it over with already!" Barricade hissed, trying to pull out from under his death-like grip.

-

About a half hour into the battle in Iacon, Starscream and the others had been alerted to the four that were incoming and had since returned to help. He immediately noticed that forces had already suffered large losses, but not without disabling Brawl.

Vector Prime had been engaging Sideways with Maximo when Barricade finally came back. Starscream had been on the ground, firing at one of the Unicron groupies when he turned and saw her. He instantly gaped at what he saw. She was sparking madly and one of her shoulder mounts was busted. Her chest plate was severely scratched and torn up, "Ratchet, First Aid! Barricade needs immediate assistance!" he cried out.

"I can't Starscream; I got my hands full as it is!" Ratchet yelled back over the fray, not even looking up from his work on Silverbolt. Starscream saw Barricade teeter and ran to her, catching her before she fell. First Aid responded, going to the two, "Primus, 'Cade, what happened to you?"

"Galvatron found me and Sunstorm… in Vos,"

"Sunstorm?" Starscream cringed at the name, "Where is he now?"

"I don't know. I didn't see him after Galvatron knocked him from the air," Starscream shook his head sadly at the news, "why?"

"Sunstorm is… my brother,"

"You… have a brother?" she asked with a half laugh. Funny she could make a laughing matter out of something so strange being that she was barely able to hold her own weight.

"Yes… is it so hard to believe?" Starscream growled. He looked around at the fight that was taking place, "Listen, I have to get back to the battle, First Aid, take care of her, get Hook if you must," First Aid nodded as Starscream leapt back into the fray.

The medic brought Barricade to the ground so he could work on her easier, "What happened to you?"

"Don't worry about it, just get me repaired so I can help the others," Barricade snapped. First Aid cringed at how harshly she replied.

"Very well, give me a few minutes, 'Cade. Patience is a virtue,"

"Not right now it isn't!"

-

Galvatron, meanwhile, had found the Decepticon HQ in Kaon. Shockwave knew he was coming by the computers that had seen him and locked down the building, but it didn't deter the menace from blowing his way in. He turned when Galvatron entered into the main room. He was clearly unimpressed with his headquarters being beaten into like it was.

"Well hello, Megatron, how good it is to see you again," Shockwave deadpanned, "…Not."

"It's Galvatron to you, weakling," Galvatron stepped forward, "in my culture it would be well within my rights to dismember you,"

"Well isn't that… sick," Shockwave sneered.

"I wonder," Galvatron growled, his mace appearing in his hand, "have you ever wondered why you feel the need to protect Kaon so much? Haven't you ever wondered why you feel the need to guard Cybertron?"

"It's my job," Shockwave replied stiffly, backing slowly, his optic never straying from the mace, "And since you are no longer in command of the Decepticons, it falls to Starscream or me."

"You're truly an idiot, Shockwave. Too much logic crammed in that single minded processor of yours." Galvatron suddenly lifted his arm and lashed out across the computers and monitors, slamming into the wall besides Shockwave, "Where is it, Shockwave?"

"And you have lost your mind, Galvatron–" Shockwave stalled a moment, realizing that Galvatron had asked a really strange question, "Where is what? What has happened to you?"

"Oh no, Shockwave, my mind is quite open, unlike yours!" he swiped again, destroying more of Shockwave's computers and room, "Now tell me where it is!"

"What are you talking about?" Shockwave asked, leaping out of the way from the devastating mace that nearly clocked him in the head.

"Are you really so blind, Shockwave? Didn't you ever wonder why you felt the need to protect Cybertron so much?"

Shockwave shook his head, not knowing where Galvatron was getting at. Galvatron only struck out again, aiming to take down the Commander of Kaon. If Shockwave didn't tell him what he wanted to know, then he would kill him and torture one of the others for the information he desired.

"You'll be the first one I take down!" Galvatron growled, this time aiming to decapitate the Kaon Guardian. Shockwave dodge the attack once again, this time diving for the exit that Galvatron had made. He had nearly made his way out when he felt the mace come down on his back. A loud screech filled Kaon as he screamed in pain, "Die, Shockwave!" Galvatron dislodged the Mace, Energon spewing freely from the wound and lifted his arm to destroy Shockwave, but the guardian managed to escape the deadly mace, disappearing further into the building. He heard the footsteps of Galvatron on his tail and went for the exit of the building.

As soon as he was clear, he took off, hell bent for Iacon, knowing his troops were already there. If anything, Galvatron would follow him.

-

Shockwave made his way to Iacon in record time. Optimus had seen him coming and waved him down, "Shockwave, What happened to you?" he asked, seeing the Energon dropping from behind the guardian. Shockwave nearly crashed into the others as he landed haphazardly, sliding to a stop in front of them.

"Galvatron got into the Decepticon Headquarters in Kaon."

"I figured this would happen. Hook can take a look at you."

Just then, Soundwave spun, seeing Shockwave standing there, "Shockwave!" He barely remembered that he was one that he hadn't checked thus far, "I need your assistance while Hook repairs you, have you a minute?"

"Well, since I really can't go anywhere – ouch!" he hissed as he glared at Hook, "Be careful would you!" he then turned back to Soundwave, "Yes,"

Soundwave broke from the fray and stepped up to him, Hound was already helping with repairs as Hook approached, looking the Commander up and down, "Turn around," he said. Shockwave did as asked. While Hook worked on him, Soundwave walked up behind him and instantly grabbed him by the arms, pinning him to his own body and snaked his appendages around his body, "You need to open your chest plate, Shockwave,"

"Isn't that a little dangerous?"

"I will protect you, Shockwave," Optimus said as he backed up in front of the two, blocking what the two were doing from view. Shockwave did as asked by Soundwave, and Soundwave proceeded to connect to him. It didn't take long for him to root through his mind and to his surprise, he came across the firewall, "Prime, hold him and hold him good," Soundwave ordered. Optimus turned and grabbed a hold of him, "Is he one of them?"

"Yes he is, which one, I will give you two guesses," He said as he brought up the other appendage and busted the firewall with ease. Shockwave let out a screech and flailed. Optimus nearly lost his grip as the Commander flung his arms out violently. A few seconds later, Soundwave disconnected from him, Shockwave's single optic turned green. He didn't move for a long moment, looking around.

"The Keeper of Primus himself," Soundwave said almost in awe, "hurry up, Hook, he's needed on front lines!"

"Hey, either I take my time, or he dies from loss of energon, shut up and let me work!" Hook growled, kneeling down behind Shockwave to work on pierced lines.

"Galvatron said… Oh Primus!" Shockwave jerked, "He's going after Vector Sigma!"

"What?!" Soundwave furrowed his optic ridges in dismay, "No!" the telepath then ran from them, headed to find Alpha Trion.

* * *

Were ya surprised to find Shockwave to be one? :D

_ "Hurry and find a ditch we can use!"  
"Wouldn't it just confuse him more if we keep running?"  
"_What_?! Would you just... just shut up and hide!"_

No guarantee when the next one will come...  
Bad Barricade! Bad! But I can't help it... I am just having SO much fun with BS!


End file.
